A Friendship Broken
by Kukaburry
Summary: Arie Willams has been in love with George Weasley for ten years. One night she professes her love, but in the darkness, she doesn't realize which twin she actually has.
1. Chapter 1

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 1

* * *

It wasn't every millennium one saw Arie Williams in a dress, even when you had known her for ten years. She was the only girl in school that chose to wear trousers instead of skirts and scoffed at the word 'makeup'. In short, she was a true tomboy. "This is complete shit!" She roared at Fred's vast grin, "The only reason you won, Weasley, is because you cheated." Arie's short-cropped, red hair frizzled around her face, and her ice blue eyes burned with ill-hidden malice.

"You never said we couldn't tell him," he chirped from his lounging spot, immune to her icy stare. "We have a contract remember? Hop to it."

"Damnit, damnit, double bloody damnit!"

"Don't you mean triple?" Fred baited her with fluttering eyes.

"I'll mean whatever I want to mean! I hate betting with you." She ground her teeth and turned her beat-red face away from Fred towards George. "George, what is my torture again?"

George snickered and pulled out a roll of parchment written by Hermione and cleared his throat theatrically. "Upon the termination of the bet, one of two events will occur: Arianna Williams will be required to wear dresses for two months or Fred Weasley will be required to give up practical jokes for one entire month."

Arie stamped her foot impatiently and flung her arms into the air. "Fine, I give up. I can't win. You two are the worst." She gave Fred her nasty glare and retreated upstairs to change into a dress as promised. Everyone in the common room watched in amusement as she hurdled up the stairs.

Arianna Williams was a seventh year and had known the Weasley family for more than half of her life. Her dad worked in the Department of Muggle Security and had become fast friends with Mr. Weasley when they had discovered that their sons knew each other. Arie's two older brothers had been acquaintances of Charlie and Bill Weasley, but nothing more.

Mr. Weasley and Mr. Williams were shocked when the twins had taken seven-year-old Arie into their group of friends, especially since Arie was a very rambunctious and hard-headed girl. She grew up with a fiery attitude to match her fiery red locks.

"This'll be a laugh, won't it Fred?" George chuckled, patting his brother on the arm. "Way to pull through for us and win the bet. You've done civilization a favor," he grinned cheekily before being pulled away by the small crowd to tell the story about how Fred won.

"You see, old Freddie here bet Arie that she couldn't go an entire class without cursing out Lee," he took a bold step towards Lee and patted his head jokingly, "Of course we told Lee all about it, and being the good chap he is, he harassed her the entire class."

"Isn't that unfair?" Hermione piped up from the fireplace, bushy head buried behind several stacks of dusty books and parchments stolen from the library.

George and Fred pretended to look hurt, "Are you saying we're cheaters?" Hermione looked up from her scribbling and quirked an eyebrow making Fred laughed merrily. "Well, she should have said we had to keep it a secret bet."

Angelina turned to Lee with a knowing smile plastered on her lips, "What did you do to piss her off this time?"

Grinning like a Chessire cat, Lee tossed back his head and said, "I put a singing charm on her hawk so that every time she tried to transfigure it, the hawk started to sing." Fred and George high-fived him and several people burst into uncontrollable laughter. "She was so mad, I thought her head would burst into flames."

"That ginger is hot-headed my friend," Fred agreed. "You're lucky she couldn't string two proper words together or else you'dve had your ears hexed off."

"Are you being mean to my sister again?" A brown-haired, second-year boy squeaked from near the ground. Fred and George looked around and found Arie's brother staring up at them with big, sappy, hazel eyes. "You guys are always picking on her. Stop it." He puffed out his cheeks and his pale skin turned a slight shade of red.

"Look Fred, we have a little bug here who's squawking."

"Oh he looks like an angry one George, just like his sister."

"Maybe we should just sweep him under the couch?"

"Yes, he is pretty small. Actually I think he'd fit under the rug. Want to try?"

"After you Fred."

The twins reached out to take Joshua by the arms when they were forcefully tugged backwards. Several gasps and a hushed giggle floated around them. "Leave my brother alone, he's only twelve years old he's supposed to be short." Both twins dropped their arms and whipped around to face Arie. "Need I remind you that you were both shorter than that when _you _were twelve?"

Fred and George opened their mouths to retort, but found no words left their wide-open jaws. George quickly recovered and whistled appreciatively, "You look like a girl."

Arie snorted in desertion. "Is that all you can say? 'You look like a girl'." She mocked, rolling her eyes in aggravation. She wore a knee-length black skirt with a Gryffindor cardigan over. "I was more expecting 'Gee you look hot'," she snapped sarcastically.

Fred slung an arm around her shoulders. "Gee you look hot," he purred.

"I guess we can't call you the fourth Williams boy anymore," George chimed while appraising her.

"And we can't call you Double A," Fred added and poked her in the chest between her breasts with his slightly calloused hand.

Arie threw Fred off her arm and smacked his hand away. "You are such a pervert. These," she gestured to her chest, "are not for touching."

Leaning in secretively, George cupped a hand around his mouth and whispered, "I can teach you to change your mind about that." Only Arie and Fred heard what he said, but everyone noticed when Arie's entire body flushed red with embarrassment.

"Um, oh look at the time, gotta go study with Marty at the library," she gasped and hurried out through the portal in a frenzy. George watched her leave, confused by her weird reaction.

"Who is she kidding? She doesn't even know what a Library is," Fred laughed, knowing exactly why Arie had run away so suddenly.

"I think she took that the wrong way," George murmured to Fred as they turned back to Lee for a game of exploding snaps. The colorful cards wobbled dangerously on the tabletop.

Fred rolled his eyes. "You think?" George just shrugged and plopped down at Lee's left side. "Maybe you should go talk to her?" Picking up several green and red cards in his hand, George made no reply and Fred sighed in defeat.

* * *

Arie found a quiet, secluded spot outside the corridor to sit and think. Dark clouds rolled across the sky and threatened rain from the window above her. 'Was George flirting with me?' She pressed a hand to her ear, recalling the warmth of his breath on her face as he leaned in towards her. 'He must think I'm a loony for running out like that.'

Footsteps tapped lightly on the stone floor and stopped in front of her. "I think that was the first time I've seen you lose your cool in front of George since fifth year when you tried to trap him under mistletoe."

Looking up through her lashes, she found Fred standing directly in front of her with an impish grin on his lips. "I think you got his attention finally."

Arie sighed and leaned her head against the stone. "You think? I'm not so good at this girl thing," she stated for the millionth time and Fred snorted a laugh. "What? I'd rather play practical jokes and quidditch every day than wear a dress and gossip with girls."

Fred cracked a small smile. "Fine I'll agree with that, but you should wear dresses more often. They do a lot for you."

She tugged at the hem of her dress and pulled her shirt up higher. "I feel too exposed. Do you tell your girlfriend to wear skirts and dresses?" She asked, suddenly curious.

Fred flinched at the term 'girlfriend'. "No, she wears them without me saying anything," he shifted uncomfortably and looked out the window.

"See what I mean? I just cannot do that. I'm not a girl's girl." Sometimes she lamented her lack of curves. She had been flat as a stick for 15 years and suddenly last year her boobs had decided to grow two cup sizes. Sagging her shoulders, Arie slumped sideways and banged the floor, frustrated. The scratchy wall snagged on her shirt which rode up to mid-belly.

Fred coughed and turned slightly red and pointed at his own stomach. Arie looked down and gasped, pulling her shirt to cover her stomach. "Why don't you just tell him? You've only liked him since fifth year right? What's there to lose?"

Arie suppressed a groan. She had never told Fred that she had liked George since she was eight so she had her entire childhood of pining to lose. "Yeah, you're right," she replied evasively. "Maybe I will tell him this year."

Fred considered her for a moment. "Well we're going down to Hogsmeade tomorrow, remember? You could wear something cute for once."

Arie narrowed her eyes and snapped, "Like I have a choice?" She was now subjected to wearing a dress or skirt every single day. Balancing on her left arm, Arie pushed herself up to head back to the common room.

Fred grinned broadly and clapped his hands. "Well that's it for me tonight. I'm all out of advice for you."

"Thank you love guru," she mocked, bowing to him. "You speak wise words." She was very glad to have Fred to talk to about George. "Let's get back before a teacher finds us wandering the halls at night," she paused and grinned mischievously, "again."

Arie patted him on the shoulder and loped back to the common room with Fred following behind. 'I have to pull up my courage and stop acting like his tomboy sister tomorrow. Sometimes when you like someone, you have to change yourself to get their attention.' This had been her mantra for several weeks now, and only today had she begun to believe it.

"You look pretty and George thought so too," Fred said as the Fat Lady portrait opened.

She quirked a smile backwards and walked towards George who now had a three-level stack of cards against Lee's two-level stack. Sitting down right next to him, she leaned forward and whispered something inaudible to him. Whatever it was, George whipped towards her violently and his cards exploded in his face.

Arie hid a broad grin and retreated to a nearby sofa next to Fred. "What did you say to him?" He asked, impossibly curious about his reaction.

"I said 'I don't know what you can teach me that I don't already know.'" It took a lot of effort for Fred not to burst out laughing.

"I think you have his undivided attention now," he smirked, looking over her shoulder at George who continued to gape at her.

Arie stretched out her legs and arms and sighed, "I win."

* * *

Here we go with another plot line I have been thinking over for a while now. I 3 Fred and George and I've never written a story centered around them, so here we go. As always reviews are most graciously appreciated.

~Kukaburry


	2. Chapter 2

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 2

* * *

The next day Arie sat down for dinner next to Becky, Fred's current girlfriend, or as he said 'the girl I'm seeing for now'. Whenever she thought about that statement, she shook her head sadly and wondered if Becky knew the truth. The aroma of roasted chicken and fresh cranberries surrounded her.

"Hello Arianna," Becky said stiffly while rigidly taking a bite of chicken. It made Arie feel awkward when people used her full name.

Arie looked over and gave her a strained smile. "Hi, Rebecca, how are you?" She hardly knew Becky at all since she was a year younger and had just started dating Fred the week before. Plus, she didn't really know how to talk to other girls since they usually hated her for being so friendly with guys. Becky was no exception to this rule, but Arie didn't know that.

Becky pushed back a strand of blond hair on her petite face and giggled shrilly. "I'm going out with Freddie tonight, so I'm feeling excited."

Shrugging, Arie knitted her eyebrows and said, "Yeah, I know. It's a big group of us, right?" She completely missed Becky's pissed off glare and continued, "George and Fred and I planned it last week since our exams have been so crap lately. We're only a month away from the end of school you know." A pang flitted through her chest as she realized how little time she had left before she and George went separate ways.

"Oh how nice for you," Becky replied scathingly and turned her nose into the air to signal that their conversation was now over.

Arie could not understand why Becky was talking that way. "Um, okay." She took a strip of ham and a muffin from her plate and shoved them both into her mouth.

"Hello ladies," Fred and George sat down opposite of them at the Gryffindor table.

"Looking good Arie," George commented, winking. A red tinge spotted her cheeks and she nervously tried to swallow her entire biscuit.

"Looking forward to tonight?" Fred asked, looking straight at Arie and flashing a grin. He completely ignored Becky who glared uselessly at Arie's head.

"Oh yeah, it's going to be tons of fun. The Witches Hallow and Death Pumpkin are going to be awesome to see live," she tapped the table in excitement. "Seriously, I've been listening to them since I was..."

"Seven," Fred finished for her.

"We introduced you to them," George grinned brightly at her. "When you first came over to our house."

Becky cleared her throat loudly and turned a sickly sweet face to Fred. "Fred, I was thinking we could go to the tea shop by ourselves tonight," her suggestion seemed innocent enough, but anger laced each word.

Fred stared at her for a moment then turned to George who raised his eyebrows in amusement. "I think I'd rather see Death Pumpkin," he swept his eyes briefly to Arie, "and I already paid for our tickets."

That was a lie. He and George gave the bar owner monthly supplies of joke items in return for free entrance and food.

"But I don't want to go to see those stupid bands," she whined. "I want to hang out with you without other people around." She cast a venomous stare at Arie who continued to eat, oblivious to Becky's hostility.

Arie looked at her curiously and asked, "Have you heard them before?"

Becky sighed extravagantly and rolled her eyes. "No. Of course I haven't heard them. I only listen to Classical music." Fred, George and Arie looked at each other to see if anyone knew what 'Classical' meant. "It's soothing string music," she tried to explain.

"Who would want to listen to that crap?" Arie stated, shivering at the thought of people playing strings. "Death Pumpkin is totally the best band ever to hit the magic world. I think you should give them a chance."

Completely at the end of her patience, Becky hissed and looked straight at Fred. "I don't want to hang out with this girl who thinks she knows you better than anyone. And I don't want to hear some stupid, tasteless magic music when I have perfectly good music from my home. Take me to the tea shop or we're through." Half of the great hall had gone silent at her declaration.

"Wow you're a real bitch," Arie stated sharply, clenching her arm and leg muscles dangerously. "Seriously, you need to get over yourself. Of course I know the twins better than you. Guess what, they like me better than you too." Fred and George both smiled in agreement. "How can you judge music you've never even heard? That's just plain dumb." Her steely blue gaze pierced Becky's features.

Panicked, Becky turned to Fred and pleaded with him. "Aren't you going to do something about this? You're my boyfriend, you're supposed to stand up for me."

Arie snorted before Fred had time to respond. "Stand on your own damn feet. You're a big girl, stop making other people do what you tell them. I may not be the best example of a girl, but I at least know not to act like a control freak. It's definitely not sexy."

A Ravenclaw boy behind her cheered in agreement and several other boys joined in, but she received several icy glares from Becky's girl friends.

Becky turned an ashen face to Fred again her agape mouth and wild hair made look like a startled cat.

"Well said, Arie," George said approvingly raising his hand for a well-deserved high-five. Her heart raced as their hands touched across the table.

Fred frowned and looked from Arie to Becky and back. "Please don't speak for me either Arie," Fred said coolly. Becky threw Arie a triumphant smile that once again went unnoticed.

"Geez I'm sorry for helping you out. If you want to piss on her comments, be my guest, I won't get in the way," Arie replied lazily while grabbing another muffin and some chicken.

Rolling his eyes and sighing, Fred turned to Becky again. She had a sweet smile plastered on her face. "Look, if you want to break up with me because of my choice in friends, then go ahead." He stared at her seriously, very un-Fred like. "I happen to like my friends, and I want my girlfriend to like my friends too."

Becky's smile dropped instantly replaced by a sickening puppy face. "You don't really mean that do you Freddie?"

Arie exhaled loudly and laughed. "You've been going out for a week." She saw Fred frown again and she smiled in apology, trying to hold her tongue in front of the infuriating Becky.

Standing up abruptly, Becky huffed and threw her fork down. "Fine. I don't need this. I am one of the best students in my year and I'm attractive; I can get any other guy I want."

Watching her walk away, Arie turned a confused look to George and Fred. "Wait, she seems really angry for some reason."

George guffawed in amusement. "Arie, we've turned you into a monster. You really are our sister."

The comment stabbed straight through Arie like a bullet to the heart. Her breath felt locked in her chest and she couldn't exhale or inhale for a couple of seconds. 'How should I respond to that?' She thought frantically. "Ha, yeah. I think your real sister is better at hexes than me," she replied meekly.

She shot Fred an exasperated frown which he simply shrugged at. "Well I guess I'll see you tonight brother, and you lady." George smiled dazzlingly and tossed back a huge gulp of water then loped off. Arie and Fred finished their meal in silence and walked back towards the common room.

"Sorry," she said to her feet as they paced down the corridor.

"Don't worry about it," Fred replied, running his hand through his hair. "It wasn't working out anyways." He seemed to zone out for a second and returned to the present with a soft shake of his head. "So, what's your plan for tonight?"

Arie, surprised by his casualness, faltered and grabbed another biscuit. "Oh, well, I'm wearing a dress," she said quickly.

Shaking his head, Fred smiled and said, "No, I meant what are you going to do?"

Looking through the window past Fred's shoulder, she watched the sun set below the trees and realized she didn't have much of a plan started. "I guess I'm going to just straight out tell him how I feel. I mean, I only have another month before we all go to new places and jobs."

Fred nodded sagely. "That sounds like the best plan." He looked down at his watch. "One hour to go," he teased. "One hour to get up your nerve."

Arie shoved him in the side and muttered, "Shut up. I have the nerve.

Grinning, Fred shook his head doubtfully. "Sure you do," he said sarcastically. "You'll go right up to George and say 'I'm madly in love with you.'"

"No, I'll do one better," she said challengingly, "I'll go up to him and I'll kiss him."

"Right, I'll believe that when I see it," Fred waved away her determination with a flick of his wrist. "You've spent two whole years acting like a girl who isn't interested in guys and you expect George to just sit there and kiss you back?"

"Yes, I do," she gave him a determined look and crossed her arms. "I don't even care if he does kiss me back as long as he knows how I feel about him." Fire blazed in her eye and Fred knew she meant what she said, so he gave up his argument and continued on the subject of Quidditch.

Arie was running half an hour late. How the hell did eyelash curlers work? Angelina had thrown it over when Arie asked for makeup advice. Eyes watering from being poked with the brush several times, Arie wiped away the black smears and tried for the sixth time to curl her eyelashes up. The eyeshadow had been easy enough and so had the blush, but Merlin help her if she wanted to throw the mascara out the window.

"Wow you look cute Arie!" Angelina squealed over her shoulder. "Hey are you crying?"

Arie laughed and shook her head, "I just poked myself a lot with this brush thing. I think I got it now."

Angelina laughed and gathered up her supplies. "Okay well have fun for the both of us, I'm going to be studying."

"I thought you were coming too?" Arie panicked since Angelina was the only girl she actually liked to talk to.

"You'll be fine! You have Fred and George and Lee and Michael there," Angelina soothed. "Charlie and I will be looking at the Transfiguration test we have coming up."

Snorting in disbelief, she stood up and shrugged her shoulders. "Well alright, but you'll miss out on the privilege of teaching me how to flirt with guys."

"What?" Angelina cried. "Is there someone you like? Is that why you asked for my makeup?" She stared at her suspiciously.

"No, not yet. I'm just feeling in the mood to, you know, act like a girl. I mean I'm wearing a stupid dress for Merlin's sake I might as well make the most of it right?" She stopped her blabbering in case Angelina got even more suspicious of her nervous behavior.

She seemed satisfied with that comment. "It's easy. If there's a bloke who catches your eye just walk up to him and tell him."

'Easy for her to say. She looks gorgeous all the time.' Arie thought bitterly. "You better go before all the gorgeous guys leave." Angelina began pushing her out the door. "If you hook up with someone, I'm the first person you tell alright?" Arie smiled and nodded her head.

* * *

Forty minutes later, Arie found herself standing outside a very dingy pub completely overflowing with noise. "Ticket!" The gruff man at the door growled before Arie took her ticket out of her bag. Once inside, the blackness of the sky outside was absolutely blinding comparatively.

'The twins are probably near the back selling some of their stuff,' she thought. Several sweaty bodies brushed against her as she dove in and out of clusters. Once or twice she almost spilled someone's drink and once she managed to trip a tiny brunette girl who couldn't seem to stand still without falling over. "Whoopsie!" The girl laughed drunkenly and allowed a black-haired boy to scoop her up. 'So I have to act like that?' Arie thought doubtfully.

Half-way to the back Arie saw a flash of bright red hair. She peered closer and saw a petite blond with her hands wrapped around the red-haired boy's neck, their mouths seemingly plastered together. Becky must have come crawling back to Fred earlier. 'Shit, now I'm going to have to be with George all by myself.' Her heart began racing at the thought.

Pushing through the throng once more, Arie began searching for George with even more determination. After another minute, she finally saw him with his back to her, leaning against a wall and chatting with a couple of guys.

'Alright Arianna, it's now or never.' She stepped boldly forward and whisked the twin around to face her then grabbed his head softly, closed her eyes and pressed their lips together. At first they both seemed completely stunned until Arie remembered to move her lips and he responded immediately.

She brushed her lips across his top lip and licked the crevice between. He inhaled sharply and pressed her hard against him, then wove his tongue between her lips. He felt warm and solid against her, just as she had thought, and his lips were light as butterflies on her. Letting her hands roam across his shoulders and chest, she enjoyed the feeling of his heart beating rapidly against her palms. He momentarily took lead and parted her lips with expertise, licking her bottom lip and causing her legs to quiver.

Much too soon, he pulled away slowly and raked a hand through her hair. He inhaled softly and said in a deep voice, "I think George will like kissing you."

She was kissing Fred Weasley!

* * *

There we go! Chapter 2 complete in record time… for me I hope you liked this twist. Reviews on this chapter are like whipped cream, not necessary, but totally awesome if they're there.

-Kukaburry


	3. Chapter 3

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 3

* * *

Arie jerked back quickly and pressed herself against the wall completely mortified. "Oh no Fred, I ... I thought.." She placed a hand on her chest and forced herself to breathe. It took even more energy to avoid direct sight of his eyes.

"You thought I was George," he said while grinning. "Yeah I can see that now."

Arie pushed back her fringe and exhaled loudly. "I'm so sorry. It's so dark in here it's hard for even me to tell that you're not George." She turned her head at the sound of several chuckles from her right and saw the guys Fred was talking to grinning at her knowingly. "What have I done?" She squeaked.

"Look, it's not a big deal. I don't think those guys will say anything to George and even if they did, you can just explain what happened," Fred suggested, trying to look more sure than he felt. Arie nodded slowly, processing what he was telling her. "Why don't we go find George and give him the same.. uh .. treatment you just gave me," his eyes twinkled jokingly.

She sighed in relief and gave a small laugh. "Yeah that sounds like a plan." He held out a hand for her and she clasped it shyly. The guys behind them whistled and they both blushed. Suddenly she stopped and tugged on Fred's hand. Her entire stomach plummeted. "Shit, I forgot. I already saw him," she took a ragged breath to stop from crying, "he was.. he was making out with... with Becky."

Fred started and whipped his head to look at her closely. "You can't be serious."

Choking on another sob, Arie nodded her head. "I thought it was you."

Hands still clasped, Fred pulled her forward and headed towards where she last saw George and Becky embrascing. Several meters away, they saw George pressed up against Becky in a very revealing way. Fred's fingers clenched around Arie's hand in anger.

"What do you think you're doing?" Fred whirled George around to confront him and Becky. "I broke up with her an hour ago!"

George's glazed expression slowly melted away to confusion. "Yeah, you did. So I thought I'd ask her out myself." His words came out like arrows, striking his intended target Fred as well as his unintended target Arie. "If you had liked her, you would have gone to the tea shop with her."

Arie stood agape of this version of George, what happened to the guy who had high-fived her over her speech in the great hall? Furthermore, what the hell did he see in Becky that she didn't have?

"Why the hell do _you_ like her?" Fred paralleled Arie's thoughts in an accusing tone, much to Becky's annoyance.

"I like smart girls," George said simply, placing an arm around Becky's shoulders. "It seems like you don't." He peered at Fred and Arie's hands still clenched around each other's and nodded at them. "What's going on here?"

Fred started and looked down at his hand and began extricating himself. Arie could tell he was about to let it go and squeezed it tighter, making a hurried decision that she knew she could never go back on. "I confessed to Fred earlier and he asked me out.."

Becky and George's yell of "What?" completely drowned out Fred's derisive snort. She tugged his arm closer and smiled at his menacing frown.

"I knew there was something going on all along!" Becky declared, face flushed in embarrassment as well as revenge. "I'm glad we broke it off when we did."

George made a face of slight disgust and looked at Arie closely, "Come on Fred, you're really dating her? I mean she's practically our sister and almost a guy." Arie's heart completely plummeted into her shoes. So that was what George really thought about her. That put things into perspective.

Arm sagging in defeat and humiliation, Arie turned her body to leave, but Fred caught hold of her other shoulder and whipped her around. Without having time to blink, Fred cupped her chin and pulled her face up to meet his. The kiss was short and simple, or Arie supposed it was from how short it lasted, but her lips burned from the tingle that began coursing through her veins.

Becky cursed loudly and Fred smiled against her lips. Arie knew exactly what he was thinking. Once again Fred pulled back, lips scant inches from hers, and turned while holding her waist to give a direct glare at George. "Don't insult Arie in front of me."

"Sorry," George mumbled, looking at Arie directly in the eyes. "I didn't mean it like that. I've just known you as my sister for so long.." he trailed off and smiled slowly. "I didn't know you liked Fred, how long has that been going on?"

Her humiliation was now complete. George was convinced Arie had been in love with Fred instead of him. "Two years," she head Fred say above her. "She told me she's liked me for two years."

Pulse racing and brain refusing to catch up, Arie barely managed to nod dumbly. George laughed and slung an arm around Becky. "You got jealous, eh?" George winked at her jokingly. "I know how that feels," he said while briefly looking at his brother who tightened his grip around Arie's waist.

Somehow at that point she knew. She knew she would have to make George jealous somehow, and dating Fred was possibly the best route to doing so. "Yes I have," she spoke boldly, finally finding her voice. She pressed her head against Fred's chest and wrapped an arm loosely around his stomach. "I've liked him since fifth year, but I didn't have the courage to tell him until I saw him with Becky."

Fred's chest moved beneath her head in a small chuckle. "I'm happy she told me otherwise I might not have known how much I liked her," Fred threw in for good measure. He was convincing even to Arie.

Becky tossed her hair to the side and gave them both a superior smile. "Well it's good we broke up earlier today." She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "It's almost too convenient."

"It's about as convenient as your... situation with George," Arie shot back just as harshly. "You're the one who suggested you two break up, or do you not remember?" Becky pursed her lips, but didn't comment further.

Several noises clashed together signaling that Witches Hallow had finally taken the stage. "Hey, let's go up front and watch them," Fred yelled over the noise, turning away from his brother and Becky and leading Arie towards the stage.

Once they reached the middle of the crowd, Arie dropped her hand and looked up at Fred with questioning eyes. "Are you okay with this?" She shouted for him to hear.

A muscle clenched in his jaw momentarily then he sighed and looked down at her. "Yes. I think we're both using each other." She stared at him hesitantly, not sure what to make of it. A hesitant smile broke over his features. "Really, I'm okay with it. Let's have some fun driving them up the wall, okay?"

Arie laughed and her face lit up. She turned towards the stage and screamed at the top of her lungs along with the rest of the crowd and Fred joined in a moment later, even adding crazy jumps and arm pumps. Never one to be outdone, Arie bumped him with her hip and began throwing her body around crazily. She spun around six or seven times until the crowd became a blur.

Hands clamped her shoulder and she stopped abruptly. "Woah there. You're going to make yourself sick doing that," Fred laughed. Arie blinked away the feeling of vertigo and pouted up at him.

"I was having fun," she said and stuck her tongue out. He grabbed it with his fingers and she squealed in surprise. "Leh meh gah."

"Nah ah wohn," he mocked while still laughing at the contemptuous look on her face. After a threat losing a finger, Fred let her tongue go. "You should really learn to respect your elders," he chided jokingly.

"What? You're like two months older than me!" She stated in mock outrage and shoved him playfully in the arm.

Shrugging, he held his hands up in defense. "Hey you don't have to get violent. I'm still older and deserve two months more respect than you do."

"You're insane," she groaned, defeated by his impossible arguments.

"It's part of my charm," he countered. They finally settled down and agreed to spend the rest of the concert mostly quiet apart from the playful act-flirting and constant screaming.

* * *

A half-moon shone slantingly through thick clouds as Fred and Arie walked together. Silent breezes gusted from across the lake at random intervals, warning of an oncoming storm.

"Merlin's knickers and socks, that was the best freaking concert I've ever been to!" Arie yelled hoarsely while loping up the slope to the castle. "I can't believe this is the second time I've seen both of them live. And tonight they were there together!" Her elated glow faltered for a moment. Thoughts of real life and their upcoming graduation from Hogwarts dampened her spirits. "I don't ever want to grow up," she admitted gingerly.

Fred crossed his arms and looked over. "You don't have to grow up," he teased, "You can help George and me at our joke shop that's opening in the summer."

"I might have to take you up on that offer," she said seriously, "with my grades no one will really want me."

"You could always become a professional quidditch player," Fred suggested.

Arie laughed. "Great idea. And I'm going to play for France!"

"Like hell you will!" Fred roared while picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. "No 'girlfriend' of mine is going to play for France!" He continued to carry her, struggling, all the way to the common room.

"Fred Weasley, put me down!" She cried from laughter. "Don't make me pull a 'Mrs. Weasley' on you," she threatened. Before she knew it, he had dropped her on the empty common room sofa.

"Hush up crazy woman or you'll get us into trouble," Fred stage-whispered.

Pretending to glare, Arie replied, "Well if it weren't for you I wouldn't be shouting."

"Minor details," he said, waving his hand in dismissal.

Arie grinned and sighed, leaning back into the warmth of the sofa. She opened one eye and peered at Fred appraisingly. "You know, it's amazing how easy it is to pretend to date you. I can just be myself around you."

Fred looked at her lying on the couch, the short hem of her dress riding up her thighs. Smirking, he shook his head and chuckled, "Yes, you're really showing me your all." He pointed to her thighs splayed wide open like a guy would sit, flashing red and gold panties.

"Yikes!" She gasped, snapping her legs together instantly. "You could have told me earlier," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest in embarrassment.

"Oh come on, it's cute," he tried to convince her. "It reminds everyone that you don't wear dresses ever." She blushed maroon at his comment of 'cute'.

Arie groaned suddenly and covered her face. "Argh this is so complicated. I feel bad for flirting with you, but it's like the only thing that would make George see me as a girl."

"Don't think like that. It's not like you're doing anything wrong. Think of it like a game. The closer we act, the more George will notice. It's simple." Arie only wished it was as simple as he made it sound.

"Alright, I trust you. I'm sorry I dragged you into it though."

Fred rolled his eyes. "What was I supposed to do? Tell them that you made it all up and humiliate you. I'm not that kind of guy." She smiled slightly. "I'm your friend, I would help you with anything."

A strange sensation burned in her stomach and she jumped up and laughed it off. "Don't get all mushy on me Weasley. I'll have to tell your friends." The grandfather clock on the opposite wall struck 2am right as Arie began yawning impressively. "Bed time." She moved forward to give him a hug and stopped short for thinking. "Um how do we do this?"

Fred frowned briefly then grinned as his conclusion. "Well I guess we have to get used to being… friendly. Especially in front of other people, so we might as well practice, right?" This sounded like a decent idea to Arie.

They stepped forward to close the gap between them. Arie got up on her tiptoes and leaned forward while Fred bent over. Their lips touched briefly and Fred pulled away. Arie was shocked at its brevity until he came in again a bit stronger. He continued to pull away and duck in again until the portrait opened revealing a glowing George and Becky.

Both Becky and George stopped mid-sentence when they caught them in mid-kiss. They took in Arie's hiked up skirt and ragged hair and made wild, internal assumptions immediately. Arie looked directly at George, smiled then gave Fred a last parting kiss before heading up her staircase to the 7th level bedrooms.

Even with her back turned, she could feel George burning a hole in the back of her head with his stare. Once out of sight, she tuned into her feminine reactions and silently squealed while jumping up and down. 'I can't wait for tomorrow'.

* * *

Hopefully this chapter met your adorableness expectations. I'm feeling excited for the next chapter. ~Kukaburry


	4. Chapter 4

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 4

* * *

Something soft smacked into Arie's unprotected head. She groaned and lifted her head from the bed, a pillow slid down the side of her face. "Whazzit?" She grumbled, looking around groggily.

"You're going out with Fred!" Angelina stood over her expectantly, brandishing another pillow threateningly. "Why didn't you tell me last night that you liked him?"

"Wait what?" Angelina wasn't making any sense to her. "Who's dating Fred?"

Smacking her head in defeat, Angelina sighed and said, "You are!"

A light bulb clicked in Arie's head and she rolled her eyes at her silliness. "Oh yeah, sorry it just happened last night." She stretched and rolled out of her warm covers. "Wait, how do you know that?"

"Everyone is talking about it. Becky went down to breakfast this morning and started telling everyone that you stole Fred from her," Angelina told her as though it weren't a big deal, "and she told us how you've been in love with him for over two years."

"She did what?" Arie roared, running to her trunk to change and ultimately tear Becky's limbs off. "She is so dead."

Angelina grabbed her arm mid-motion. "It's okay, everyone saw what happened yesterday. Becky got herself dumped. End of story."

"Oh," she straightened up and pushed back her hair. "Well then I'll just break a couple of bones then," she tossed a mischievous grin, "just for good measure."

"Okay, but before you do, tell me why you didn't let me know you liked Fred?" She frowned at Arie the way an older sister would. "We're quidditch buddies, I thought you would at least tell me when you were crushing on someone."

Sighing theatrically, Arie shrugged and said, "I dunno. I thought it might ruin my chances. I'm kind of superstitious about telling anyone who I like." Yes, it was a bold face lie, but she had to cover her ass somehow.

Angelina nodded. "I see." A huge grin spread over her face. "And now you're dating the guy you've been in love with for two years! That's so romantic."

A hollow pang shot through her chest. "Yeah, it's great," she said while gritting her teeth then tried to change the subject. "Is it lunch time yet?"

"Yeah, it's 12 now. You must have had a great night," she winked suggestively and turned around while Arie put on the newest dress her step mom had owled overnight. "It's so funny that you had a crush on Fred all this time and we were all thinking you were just asexual." She chuckled at the thought then added, "It was George who came up with that one and Fred had tried to defend you."

Suddenly Arie went from slightly annoyed to downright 'didn't want to hear any more about what George may or may not have said about her sexuality'. "Great, I'm ready. Let's go." It felt odd being this friendly with another girl. Basically, she and Angelina had been just teammates who had a laugh every once in a while. Most girls had written Arie off as a friend years ago, but Angelina stuck around.

"I love that dress!" Angelina clapped her hands eagerly. "What will your brothers think about you and Fred dating?" She asked suddenly.

Arie realized Angelina had a point. "Martin will probably try to kill him since they were on the team together for four years, and I think Richard will be pissed off that he isn't a Ravenclaw."

"Oh right, Martin is only two years older than you. That makes sense," she said airily. "I forgot."

"How did you forget? You knew him too," she pointed out. Angelina smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

"I have a bad memory for people. I didn't know Richard too did I?"

Arie shook her head, laughing. "No, Richard is four years older than Martin so he was out of school when we came in."

"I'll bet Richard is angry that all of his younger siblings are in Gryffindor and not Ravenclaw," she chimed.

"You're right. I'm the opposite of him in talents, looks and intelligence," she frowned slightly while thinking of her brothers. They had both graduated with good grades and had gotten ministry jobs right out of school. Richard was now engaged to be married and Martin was waiting until he met the right girl before he settled down. 'They're so lucky.'

"Earth to Arie!" Angelina snapped fingers in front of her face. "Zone much?" Arie shook her head and smiled. "Thinking about snogging Fred?"

'Not exactly,' she thought while cringing inside. "Yeah. I haven't seen him in over ten hours." Her sarcasm was lost on Ang.

"You're right! Hey look, he's already waiting for you," she squeaked, practically dragging Arie over to the Gryffindor table where George sat snuggled up with Becky.

As she passed behind Becky, it took every fiber of Arie's being not to grab that blonde hair and pull it from its roots. She sat down slowly at Fred's right elbow and Ang sat down across from her. It took one dark, and bilious look for Fred to understand exactly how she felt. "It looks like everyone in the school knows about us," he whispered into her ear. "I think we should give Becky a lovely thank you present."

A surprised giggled bubbled out of her and she nodded in agreement. "I can't wait," she said in a normal voice, pretending that she and Fred had had a lover's conversation. Ang quirked her eyebrows from across the table. She took several strips of ham and sausage and stuffed them into her mouth as an excuse for ignoring everyone.

"Want to help me perfect our vanishing wands?" Fred asked with an amused expression on his face.

Arie inhaled, choked, and began coughing up every piece of food she had shoved into her mouth. Fred smacked her back and a large piece of half-chewed pork came flying out. Sexy... Arie looked out of the corner of her eye at George whose eyes were round as saucers before he began laughing.

"Wait, Arie deal with charms? Didn't she manage to charm Flitwick's toupee to the statue of Merlin by accident?" George asked incredulously, then hastily changed his tone when Fred began glaring at him. "We already have the charm mostly worked out, you shouldn't waste her time."

"That's why I want her to help. She's gifted at coming up with things out of the blue, maybe she can help us figure out why it doesn't stay vanished all the time," Fred replied sincerely.

Finally void of choking hazards, Arie piped up, "I think George is right. I might end up destroying your whole lot of wands."

Waving his hand, Fred replied, "No you won't. I'll only let you play with one wand at a time."

"That sounds dirty," Ang said while grinning.

"You are a natural-born pervert," Arie replied while blushing crimson.

She shrugged and continued to grin. "Whatever, I'm just saying out loud what you're thinking."

"You don't have to, I just thought it might be fun," Fred began hesitantly. Arie thought about it and decided that this was a great way to get George's attention. If she successfully helped Fred with the vanishing wands, then George might ask her to help him in the future. It was fool-proof.

She tugged on his sleeve and smiled. "No, I think it's a great idea. I'm looking forward to it."

Fred gave her a knowing look and smiled. "Cool, let's go after lunch." He turned his head and gave George a weird stare before returning to his meal.

* * *

As everyone left the great hall, Fred pulled Arie away from the crowd down a back passage. "Shh, this is our secret workshop," Fred whispered, sneaking from hidden passage to hidden passage. They finally arrived at a picture of Sir Francis the Courageous. Fred poked Sir Francis in his incredibly long nose then tugged on the long nosehairs and the portrait opened revealing a spacious workshop.

"This is your secret workshop that you always said didn't exist?" Arie cried in amazement. It was a truly a work of art. "How did you find it?"

A gleam of humor glimmered in Fred's eye. "It's nice, right? George and I found it in our fourth year while running away from Filch. It showed up on the Marauders map as a janitor's closet," he sat down on a dusty bench next to a pile of strange-looking wands.

"Why didn't either of you guys tell me about this place? It's so neat," she said in awe while looking at boxes of nosebleed naughts, canary creams, and extendable ears.

"Like George said, you're kind of a walking disaster," he laughed.

"I am not!" Arie growled in outrage, flinging out her arms and knocking over a box of fever fudge. "Whoops. Okay, fine, maybe I am. But that doesn't mean I can't try to control my body."

"Right, I'm sure that would happen. I brought you in here now, so why are you complaining?"

Arie sighed. "Well because you're only doing this to make George jealous."

A sneaky look crept onto Fred's face. "Well I have other reasons for bringing you in here," he said softly. Shivers ran up Arie's spine when Fred's look became heated. "I'm going to make you a master at charms."

Arie let out an exasperated breath. "Wait, what? That's your big reason for bringing me here?"

"Well, I doubt my mum would want me or George to date a girl who's flunking charms and Transfiguration, which are her favorite subjects," he said seriously.

She stamped her foot in protest. "I'm passing Herbology and Arithmancy. I'm the best student in History of Magic and um I think I passed my last Magical Creatures exam." She thought hard about any other class she might be doing well in, but drew a blank.

"Right, well if you want to get any job in the ministry then you'll have to know Transfiguration and Charms," he grinned, "I don't think they'll care that you knew how to memorize troll history."

"Hey, the other day at dinner Snape said that Ugg Trita Ma Na Ugg the VII, the first troll alchemist, was king of his village in 1623 and I corrected him and told him it was 1621."

"And where did that get you?" He asked sarcastically.

She blushed and replied, "Detention, but it was worth it."

Picking up a wand, Fred shook his head. "'Course it was. Now come over here and try to vanish this wand." He placed the wand on the center of the table. "I know we look like goof-offs, but we're good at this stuff. Our mum really would kill us if our girlfriends were rubbish at charms, especially simple ones."

She glared at him hard and stamped her foot again. "Fine. But I bloody hope I vanish your entire wand collection now."

"That's the spirit," Fred taunted.

Arie stomped over to the table next to Fred and whipped out her wand then stared at the stick on the table. She continued to stare for another minute until Fred coughed. "Shut up, I'm concentrating," she lied. How could she have forgotten the spell already?

Grinning from ear to ear, Fred guessed what her issue was. "You can't remember what it is, can you?"

"I said shut it," she snapped, turning red from anger and embarrassment. "I'm thinking."

"Gee Arie, I thought you were better than that," he pushed her buttons further.

"Fine! I don't know the stupid spell." She chewed on her lip, annoyed that he had made her admit it.

He shook his head. "If you don't know, you can just tell me. I'm not going to put you in detention." He put on his best Professor Snape face, "Arianna Williams, how dare you not know what a boar's tusk is used for. Detention for the rest of your life!" He threw his hand in the air theatrically and Arie smiled then began shaking with laughter.

"Thank Merlin I'm not in his class. How did you and George even make it in that class?"

"I told you, we're closet geniuses, don't tell anyone. It'll ruin our reputation," he looked around as though someone might be listening.

"You guys don't have a reputation," she countered. He pretended to look hurt and she shoved him with her hip. "Alright quit being a baby and tell me the spell."

"Alright, it's evanesco." He said very slowly, enunciating the 'sco' sound. She repeated it back to him and he nodded. "Go ahead and try it."

She lifted her arm and pointed it at the stick, "Evanesco!" The wand faded slightly, almost turning the color of the desk it laid on. "Hey! That was my best vanishing spell ever." She cheered. Turning to Fred with a surprised grin she said, "I can't believe I didn't come to you earlier for help. Maybe I would have done better on my charms O.W.L."

He shrugged, "Well you at least passed with an A."

"Right, that was after I begged the grader to let me try my sinking charm when I…"

"When you shrank the grader's clothes by accident!" Fred howled in laughter, remembering the incident very clearly.

"I sneezed in the middle of my charm!" She tried to defend herself.

Trying to catch his breath, Fred inhaled and calmed himself down. "I can't believe I forgot about that one. I'm going to have to make you less dangerous." He looked down at her with a peculiar look.

The hairs on Arie's arms raised in awareness of Fred being so close to her. She couldn't look at him without seeing George too. 'Maybe it's a good thing I picked Fred for this. He and George are made of the same stuff, and if Fred could make her feel like this, then George definitely could. She smiled and bumped his arm playfully. "Is there something else you'd like to teach me professor?"

* * *

Sorry for the delay in this chapter. I have had a plague-like cold for the past four days and all I did was lay in bed and read. I hope I made up for it by making it a bit longer than normal.

~Kukaburry


	5. Chapter 5

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 5

* * *

George walked in on them three hours later performing a freezing charm. Arie flicked her wand towards the stack of books Fred was levitating and they slowed down momentarily before dropping to the floor. "Hey that was even better than before!" Fred cheered, hugging her around the shoulders.

"You guys are just too cute," George mocked jokingly, walking further into the room and looking around. "Hey Arie, you managed to keep from blowing it up. Nice." The smell of fresh air wafted in behind him.

Pouting, Arie looked up and said, "I'm not that bad at charms, George. I did pass the O.W.L."

"Yeah, after you shrank the grader's clothes," he retorted with a grin. Arie looked at him with wide eyes. 'He remembers?' "It's hard to forget something as hilarious as that, right Fred?"

Her heart somersaulted at the thought of being remembered by George. She felt Fred shift his body next to her in a non-committal way. "I didn't remember until she told me," he admitted.

George grinned and shrugged. "Well I thought you two should know that we're all going out to play some quidditch. I'm going to teach Becky how to play chaser." Arie saw Fred's body stiffen at that comment. "If you two are done playing around with each other, you can join." His voice held suggestive undertones and something more?

Arie played it up and wrapped herself around Fred and looked up through her eyelashes at George. "Give us a couple more minutes and we'll be out there."

George snorted, twiddled his finger knowingly and left the room. "I'm only giving you five minutes of snogging!" His voice echoed from the doorway.

Arie let out a breath and released Fred from her grip. "I'm getting nervous about this whole thing," she admitted. "I mean, we're going to have to snog in public in front of our friends, right?"

Still looking at the doorway George went through, Fred replied, "Yeah, eventually." He turned to look at her seriously. "Is that okay? We can always stop if you're feeling uncomfortable." His expression seemed unusually stony and she thought back to George's comment of teaching Becky quidditch. Why would that bother him... unless... unless he still liked Becky?

"No, I'm comfortable with you," she said truthfully. "It's not you, it's the idea of other people seeing and, you know just watching us kiss."

Fred stared at her curiously and smiled. "Well the key to a successful public snog is to actually want to kiss the other person," he began while looking Arie up and down. "From what I've seen, you have to build up to a kiss. The girl has to crave it and the guy has to want to give it to her." Arie shivered under his intense gaze, the feeling of awareness coming up tenfold this time.

"I can manage that," she squeaked and cleared her throat quickly. "So should we plan a kiss or something?" She asked hesitantly. Her knowledge of kissing came from a terrible experience with her brother's friend Sean and things she had read in books.

"Listen to yourself, what kind of girlfriend are you?" Fred asked in mock outrage. "Planning a kiss? That's just wrong in every way!" Arie giggled at his tone. "A kiss has to be spur-of-the-moment. Something you desire," he said in a low voice while stepping closer to her. "Something that leaves you wanting more." She stepped back a pace into the table and placed her hands solidly on the edge.

His lips descended slowly and caught hers in a strong and supple kiss. He placed his hands down on the bench and leaned his body against hers. It was a strange sensation having someone as big as Fred pressed up against her in a rather pleasant way. This kiss was solid and thorough and sent a surge of vibrations from Arie's stomach through the rest of her body. One of her hands found their way to Fred's back and slid up to grasp his shoulders.

"Oi! Get your asses out to the quidditch field before I glue your lips together," George yelled from around the corner.

Fred grunted in frustration and Arie pulled away, panting for breath. "Wow," Arie said quietly. "You're definitely a better kisser than Sean."

Fred choked on air and gasped out in horror, "You kissed Sean?"

"Yeah, don't ask. He was at my house and drinking firewhisky with Martin and the next thing I knew, he was trying to kiss me." She shuddered. "Just forget I said that," she said with a smile and tugged on his hand. "Come on, I think I'm ready to kiss you in public now."

* * *

George, holding Becky's hand and Fred, holding Arie's hand traipsed out onto the field along with Ang, Lee, Harry, and Ron. Ron and Harry dropped the quidditch box in the middle of the field. "Alright, we'll split into two teams. We have to make it even."

"I want to be beater," Becky said. Everyone looked at her warily.

"Becky's a beater," George announced, then scanned the rest. "Arie and I are seekers, and Ron is keeper. The other team, Fred and Harry are seekers, Lee will be beater and Ang will be keeper."

Arie grinned to herself in triumph. George had paired himself with her on purpose. They walked over to their side of the field and huddled together. Arie squeezed between Ron and George. "Alright team, Ang is a pretty good keeper, but not as good as Ron here. We're only playing with one Bludger, so you should take care of it easy Becky. Just swing the bat like I showed you. Now Arie," he said, turning his face towards her. "You and I will have no problems since Fred is a crap Chaser. Don't go easy on him just because you're shagging him." He winked at her jokingly.

Becky snorted in amusement and Ron turned a fiery shade of red. Arie's temper flared quickly and she shoved George hard. "I'm not shagging him you idiot. We've been dating for less than twenty-four hours." 'Don't cry. Don't cry.' She said in her head, forcing back angry tears of embarrassment. 'Why does he keep doing that?'

"Calm down, I'm only joking," he said defensively. "Come on you're more fun than that, Arie."

She quickly swallowed her anger and pretended to be happy then pasted a grin on her face. "Alright people, this is a serious game. Becky, don't let us down," she joked.

Becky shot her a hostile glare, but plastered her own fake smile on before George saw. "I won't!" She chirped much too high.

Everyone flew into the air while Fred remained on the ground to let out one bludger and pick up the quaffle. He and Harry had the disadvantage so they were allowed to start first. "Show me what you got!" Arie shouted across the field at Fred who smiled and nodded in return.

George flew away from a lesson with Becky and stopped next to Arie. "I'll get Fred and you get Harry." She forced a pout to make him think 'Im not happy you're splitting me away from Fred'.

"We're gonna show them what's what." She said with determination.

"That's right!" He cheered and clapped her on the back.

The lined up across from Harry and Fred and the game began. Fred tossed a quick pass to Harry who jetted straight past Arie's right side on his Firebolt. She flipped around her Comet and took off after him, yelling at Becky to hit the bludger toward's Harry. Harry dodged and threw a reverse pass to Fred. He tried to dodge around George, but lost the quaffle as George hit it out of his hand.

Arie sped back to take her position next to the keeper in case George wanted to fake a throw and pass it off to Arie instead. He sped around Lee who jokingly swung his bat at George's head, then threw the quaffle at at the bottom left hoop. Ang quickly caught it and threw it back to Fred who had come up behind Arie and flipped her hair.

She attempted to jump at Fred, but George yelled over, "He's not your guy, leave him to me!" Frustrated, she let Fred go and tailed Harry instead. He zig-zagged, like a well-trained seeker would, and tried to lose her. She barely managed to keep up with him, but he was already in position for a pass which Fred had thrown at him. He caught it and chucked it towards the middle hoop. Ron managed to kick it away with his foot.

Arie caught it and drove down-field. Thunder rolled through the air and she looked up momentarily to see another wave of dark clouds begin to descend upon them. She shook her head and continued down the field, out-pacing everyone she thought, until Harry came up behind her and knocked the quaffle from under her arm.

"Arie you should have passed to me!" George called out over another rumble of thunder. She rolled her eyes at him in a 'I-dont-have-eyes-in-the-back-of-my-head' way. They continued to play this way, back and forth. No one was scoring since Fred really was a terrible Chaser and neither Arie nor George knew how to cooperate. Becky and Lee got a little bit better at hitting the bludgers, to the point where they could sort of aim where they wanted to hit it.

Twenty minutes into the game, lightening lit up the sky and someone shouted that they should stop the game. Arie had no intention of stopping before she had the chance to score. Fred and Harry had the quaffle again from a bad pass made to Arie by George. Arie flew down the field, ignoring George's yell of "Stay away from my guy!" and blocked Fred's path with a determined smile.

He matched her determined look with a quick grin of his own and tried to throw the quaffle over her head at Harry. She jumped up quickly and knocked the ball off-course. It fell towards the ground and she chased after it and caught it in her right hand. At that moment the sky unzipped and dumped rivers of water on the field. She heard a whistling sound and turned to see a bludger smash into her cheek and unseat her.

She lay on the ground, paralyzed with shock, and felt the damp ground mold itself around her body. Her ears were ringing and her vision was blurry, but she could see figures moving above her.

"Arie... Arie..Arie," a hollow voice echoed around her head, and someone leaned over her. She looked up and saw the outline of George's face looking down at her. "Arie are you hurt?" He asked, turning her cheek gingerly to look at the swelling bruise. She knew he would come to help her, just like he had when she was seven.

Breath finally returned to her lungs and she inhaled deeply. Her vision cleared and the ringing became a faint buzz. She closed her eyes and looked up again. Fred stared down at her with concerned eyes. "Arie, say something. Can you move?"

"I have a headache," she said slowly and he sighed in relief. "I'm hungry," she added for humor.

He cracked a smile and chuckled, knowing that was her way of saying she was fine. He leaned over and checked her cheek again. "You have a nice bruise on your cheek," he said admiringly.

"I like battle scars, they make me look dignified," she said while lifting her head slowly and carefully.

Several feet splashed onto the ground around them and suddenly they were surrounded by peering faces. "She's fine, let her breath," Fred said loudly, trying to make them give her some room. She finally reached a sitting position and held onto Fred's arm to push herself up.

He held her solidly around the arms to make sure she didn't have a concussion. "Feeling alright?" He asked again.

"Yeah, just a bump on the head," she said, touching her cheek lightly. "At least real quidditch is over."

Another bolt of lightning skittered across the sky followed by a loud crack of thunder. "Hey we need to get inside!" George yelled, pulling Becky forward and running through the entryway of the field towards the castle followed closely by a drenched Lee.

Ang, Harry and Ron looked over at Fred and Arie. "Go ahead! I'm going to help her first," Fred yelled through the sheets of rain. They nodded and sprinted through the rain. "Do you think you can run?" He asked her.

A slight feeling of nausea mixed with dizziness made her head feel light, so she shook her head no. "I think I need to sit for a while," she said, attempting to sit down on the ground. Fred grunted and hauled her back up then ran to the changing room.

He sat her on the area rug against the back wall and walked around looking for towels to dry themselves off. He came back a minute later with bath towels and handed one to Arie. She pulled the towel around her now chilled body and watched as Fred began stripping off his wet quidditch robes.

He was half-way through when he turned to see a shivering Arie staring at him. "Do you need help?" He asked. She shook her head meekly and began dabbing herself with the towel to distract herself. "Don't be daft woman, take off your quidditch robes or you'll catch cold."

Smiling at her shyness, he tugged her towel away and lifted her robes off of her. Still grinning, he handed the towel back to her and began wringing out what seemed like buckets of water from each of the robes.

He finished and hung them up on a nearby pole and slid down next to Arie in nothing but a t-shirt and boxers. He looked over at her and noticed her teeth were chattering from the cold air of the storm. "Come here you loony," he laughed and pulled her into his lap. "Come on, what's a boyfriend for if he can't keep you warm?"

Arie giggled and said in a serious voice, "But no one is watching us right now. Is it okay?" Why was he acting like her boyfriend even when no one was looking?

She felt him breath against her back as though thinking about what she was saying. He exhaled slowly and wrapped her tight against him. "So what?" Such simple words. They immediately put her at ease. But why?

In her head, Arie forced herself to think. 'This is Fred, not George. You like George, not Fred. This is Fred hugging you, it's not George.' But considering how much she was enjoying being cuddled up with Fred, she began to wonder why she was feeling like a girl around him. He was her friend, not her boyfriend. She shouldn't be feeling this, right?

* * *

Today's update is early since I will be spending the day tomorrow on a big project. I hope you enjoyed it.

~Kukaburry


	6. Chapter 6

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 6

* * *

After what seemed like hours, Arie finally felt well enough to attempt a run through the torrential rain that had refused to let up. "Look our quidditch robes dried just in time to get soaked again!" She joked while standing up and stretching. She hadn't realized just how warm Fred was until a blast of air hit her, and her skin broke out in goosebumps. "Geez you'd think it was winter," she said with chattering teeth.

"If you're sure," he said heavily, looking out at the solid wall of rain. "Tell me if you're not feeling good," he looked at her seriously.

"Psh, I'm fine. That little break really helped. I feel great!" He looked at her warily and shrugged doubtfully to himself. Before he could even pull on his robes, Arie had turned and sprinted out the door yelling, "Last one in is a rotten dragon's egg!"

He cursed under his breath and tied his robes back then took off after her, knowing he would have to flat-out canter to catch up with her now. As he ascended the hill, he saw her flying robes ducking into the entrance to the castle.

The door opened under his hand and he squelched into the main hall, looking around for where Arie had gone. He noticed a trail of wet footprints leading up the stairs and followed them towards the Gryffindor common room. He walked in and immediately saw Harry and Ron sitting perfectly dry at a table.

"Hey it took you long enough to get back here," Harry said, turning in his seat.

"Yeah, did you and Arie have a fight?" Ron asked curiously.

Fred coughed and shook his head. "No we didn't, why?"

Harry looked at Ron quickly and said, "She ran upstairs a few minutes ago with Angelina. She looked really sick."

"Maybe I should have made her go to the hospital wing," he said with a disgruntled sigh and sat down next to Ron.

Both boys looked at Fred with suspicious eyes. "So what were you guys doing?" Ron asked casually.

Knowing where their minds were trailing, Fred grinned and put his sopping wet arms on both Harry and Ron and said in a mock superior tone, "You two are two are too young to understand."

"Like hell we are! We're fifteen." Ron puffed out his chest in pride.

"Well then I'll tell you when you're seventeen," he said with a grin. Harry began laughing at Ron's annoyed expression. "If Arie comes back down, tell her I'm up drying off."

Harry and Ron rolled their eyes at his apparent infatuation and promised him they would. He ran upstairs and found his dorm room completely empty. He removed his clothes and hit the warm showers. The hot water drew away any chill he had been feeling.

He walked out of the showers, wrapped in a towel, and immediately sneezed when the temperature dropped. "You're getting sick already?" A voice asked from across the room.

Fred jumped and saw a red-faced Arie standing in the middle of the room, avoiding looking directly at him. She was now wearing warm, dry clothing. "You scared the life out of me, Arie," Fred gasped, holding a hand against his chest. "What are you doing in here?"

"Um, well," she mumbled, feeling uncomfortable with him being so unclothed, "I came downstairs and Ron said you had asked for me."

Fred grumbled and rolled his eyes. "That's not really what...," he began, then changed his mind, "Yeah, I was just seeing how you were feeling. They said you didn't look good when you came in."

"Oh, I was just feeling a little bit dizzy from the run," she lied. "I really do feel fine now." She fidgeted with her hair.

Fred could tell something was up and walked over to her. "Come on now, are you really okay?" He looked at her cheek for what seemed like the hundredth time. He touched it and she flinched back in pain. "Do I need to drag you to the Hosiptal wing?"

She sighed and looked up at him and let out a small sob. "I'm fine. It's not me. I ran into George earlier and.."

Twenty minutes earlier:

Arie huffed into the great hall, grinning widely. 'I am still faster than him,' she thought proudly.

"What are you talking about?" A voice that sounded suspiciously like Becky's whispered from around the corner. "Alright, I did it. I hit the bludger at her."

Arie's ears perked at that comment. That bitch! She was the one who hit her. She made a movement to run around the corner to punch her in the face, but George's comment stopped her dead. "That's pretty low, you know."

"I know, I didn't mean to do it," she said in a soft voice. "She just made me so mad, flirting with you." Crap! Becky had noticed how she felt about George.

"Arie's flirting with me? Why would she flirt with me when she's dating Fred?" He asked with doubt dripping in his voice.

Becky seemed to consider this, "I don't know why. Maybe she likes both of you? She can't decide who she likes better."

George snorted, "I doubt that. Even if she did, I would never want to date her. She's too much like my little sister Ginny," he made a short chuckle, "she's practically a guy. Trust me, I won't be dumping you for Arie. Actually I'll bet Fred will end up dumping her soon too. I don't get what he sees in her."

Present:

Arie finished telling Fred what she heard, leaving out the part about Fred dumping her, and felt a fresh wave of sadness flow through her chest. "It's totally hopeless. He said it himself, what would anyone see in me?" She stopped when Fred brought her into a strong hug.

"Don't believe anything he said," Fred said soothingly. "He was lying to Becky to make her feel better. He's like that. I think he might care about her."

She looked up from his chest. "Wait, are you sure?"

"He is my brother," Fred said, "we think a lot alike." He tried to smile down at her downtrodden face. "Please trust me. He wouldn't say something like that."

"Okay, I guess," she smiled. "You're such a good friend sometimes."

"Yeah, I know. Everyone says so," he joked. A loud rumble went through his stomach. "Want to get some dinner?"

"No, I think I'm just going to go to sleep." She didn't feel like seeing George and Becky for a while. She stepped out of his embrace and left him to the rest of his evening.

Once she had left the room, Fred smacked himself in the face angrily and grumbled, "George. You're an idiot."

That night, Arie dreamed about the quidditch accident she had when she was seven. "Arie you throw like a girl!" A young George yelled at her from his position in front of the goals. "How are you going to get on the quidditch team at Hogwarts if you can't even pass?" He taunted her.

Arie had had a enough of his taunting. She gripped her broom tighter in anger and flew straight at George's mocking face. "I'm gonna knock you off your broom Weasley!" She roared, soaring faster through the air.

George dodged out the way just in time, but Arie lost control and hit the center hoop at a reckless speed, then fell straight down to the sand below and knocked herself unconscious. She awoke hours later to George standing over her. "I thought you were dead!" He bawled, grasping her hand. "I can't see you hurt, Arie. I love you so much."

* * *

Arie yawned and rolled out of bed, not recalling anything she had dreamed the night before. It had been stupid of her to skip dinner last night, her stomach was yelling at her for food. "Alright, shut up," she growled back.

She hurried downstairs and spotted Becky sitting alone near the end of the table. She grimaced and sat as far away from Becky as she could. Becky looked up and noticed her, then stood up and sat down right next to her. "Can we talk?" She asked with a desolate look.

"I guess," she said warily, trying to turn her bruised cheek away from Becky.

"I have a confession to make," Becky began in a low tone. "I hit that bludger at you." Arie pretended to look shocked and angry. "I know! I'm so sorry. I really didn't mean to hit you." Her voice seemed somewhat forced. "I just got jealous. I hope you can forgive me."

Arie shrugged and rolled her eyes. "You're forgiven," she lied.

"Oh thanks so much!" Becky said in a high voice. "I knew you'd understand."

"Becky, can I talk to Arie alone?" George asked, standing behind her with a grim look on his face.

Becky paled slightly. "Yes," she said breathily and stood up.

He sat down and looked at Arie very sternly. "First, I want to tell you who hit the bludger at you," he began.

"Oh, Becky already told me it was her. She just apologized right when you got here," Arie said quickly. "I was surprised she admitted it." She added in a voice of disdain. The angry look on George's face flickered away and Arie began to think that Fred was right when he said that George did care about her. Maybe George did lie to Becky to make her feel better.

"Really?" He said, surprised. "Well that's good. I'm surprised she still has all of her body parts," he said with a grin. "I know you have a way of letting people know when you're angry." Arie smiled and laughed. George chuckled with her and cleared his throat more seriously. "Actually there's something else. I think Fred is sick, but he won't let me take him to the hospital wing. He was coughing all night and this morning he was sick as a dog in the bathroom. Do you think you can help?"

All thoughts rushed from Arie's mind in concern of Fred. "Yes I can," she touched George's hand momentarily. "I'm going now." Without having eaten anything, she hurried from the great hall back to Gryffindor tower. She burst through the dorm door and pulled back Fred's curtains. "You idiot, why are you sitting around sick?"

Fred blinked against the sunlight and groaned. "Leave me alone, Arie," he grumbled into his pillow.

"No I will not leave you alone!" She cried, smacking him in the head. "You are sick so you need to go to Madam Pomfrey."

"She's mad a bat," he said helpfully.

"Yeah and she's brilliant at curing. Come on, why the hell don't you want to go?" She asked angrily. She put a hand to his forehead and realized he had a high fever. He turned his head towards her with a determined look.

"I'll go if you go for your cheek," he said innocently.

Now she saw what he was doing. "That's different. I'm not on my deathbed like someone else." She poked his shoulder forcefully.

"Fine, then I'm not going," he said wearily, closing his eyes again and coughing pitifully.

Arie clenched her hands into fists. "Argh, fine. I'll go. Happy?" Fred, eyes still closed, grinned.

Madam Pomfrey stared at the couple, side by side, and clucked under her breath. "Should've come here earlier, loves. You have a nasty fracture on your cheek bone, but it'll be fine tomorrow once you take this potion. You won't miss any classes. And you," she turned on Fred. "You just have a cold. Take this syrup now and go back to your dorm to sleep. You'll be up and running by tonight."

Fred accepted his syrup with a coughing gulp and spluttered at the taste. Arie took the tiny bottle and pinched her nose before downing it. "That wasn't so painful now was it?" Madam Pomfrey said with an elated clap. "Alright, off you two go. Come back if you have any side effects."

They walked back to the dorms in solid silence. "You were right, by the way," Arie said in a quiet voice. "About George," she clarified. "He came up and told me about what Becky did."

Fred smiled at her. "See, I told you." He looked at her steadily and said in a very calm voice, "You know what that means right? We're going to have to step up our act."

Arie looked at him warily. "What does that mean?"

Fred merely smiled. "You'll see." He left Arie to her quiet thinking until they reached the common room where several people, including George, milled about. "Are you ready for the performance?" He whispered in her ear. She breathed deeply and nodded. "Alright, here we go." He scooped her up theatrically and said in a normal voice, "You're coming with me lass."

"Fred, where are you taking me?" She shrieked with laughter.

"To my room," he said with a grin. They bounded past George, who seemed shocked at their entrance and to whom Arie gave a little wave on her way by, and rushed up the stairs to Fred's bed where he sat her on the edge and jumped in next to her.

Still laughing mirthlessly, Arie turned and looked at Fred's grinning face. "You are crazy. Did you see the way he looked at us?"

"Of course I did, that was the point," he said soberly.

The door opened and George strolled in with a very neutral look on his face. "So you got him to go?" He asked Arie.

"It would seem that way," she replied, trying not to grin. She squealed in surprise when Fred pulled her back into his arms.

"Yes she dragged me there like a tyrant because my annoying brother told her to. Now, if you'll excuse us," Fred said loudly and pulled the bed-hangings down around them. Arie tried to yell at Fred, but he clamped a hand firmly over her mouth and breathed, "Shh, you'll ruin it."

After a minute, they listened to George snort in annoyance and leave the room. "Fred, what are we doing?" She asked in excited shock and curiosity. He didn't expect her to do anything…..serious did he?

"Sleeping," Fred said simply, lying back on his pillows and closing his eyes. "What were you expecting?" He asked with a humorous smirk.

She blushed thoroughly, feeling caught in her perverted thoughts. "Nothing, I was just checking."

Fred chuckled knowingly. "We'll let them think whatever they want." He yawned grandly and stretched. "This syrup is knocking me out," he mumbled.

Fred suddenly seemed like an evil genius to Arie. She never would have thought of this, and it was working so well! She felt herself yawn as well, the heavy hand of sleep weighing down on her. "I think my potion is too," she said sleepily.

"Mmhmm," Fred responded in half-sleep. "Come lie down." She obliged easily and sank into the pillow next to him. The smell of licorice and soap wafted up to her nose and her stomach grumbled loudly. 'Shit, I forgot to eat.' She thought, seconds before falling straight to sleep.

* * *

That project was much shorter than planned, so here is another chapter up a day earlier than expected. Hope you enjoy!

~Kukaburry


	7. Chapter 7

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 7

* * *

Waking up was tough for Arie. The warm blanket wrapped around her kept the chill air out and the soft pillows felt like she was floating on clouds. Not to mention a certain Weasley was scorching her back with his presence. She had fallen asleep instantly, but for some reason Fred stayed in her mind throughout.

She lifted her head and looked back to see Fred's head dangerously close to her own, his arm snaking down her side and his hand planted firmly on her butt. 'Boys.' She thought laughingly. He grumbled something in his sleep and shifted his head. Feeling a little too warm, she tried to inch away from him for a cooler part of the bed, but felt him slide his arm down in protest and pull her back.

Sometimes she wondered how she would react if she really were dating Fred. She would most likely roll over and kiss him. This thought sent strange tingles through her stomach. "Psst, sleeping beauty, wake up." She nudged him in the stomach. "I think it's time for dinner."

He remained unmoving. "Oi, Fred. I'm hungry, wake up now," she said more persistently. "Fine, I'm leaving your ass here," she growled, struggling out of his grasp.

Fred's arms became bars of steel. "Sleeping Beauty got a wake-up kiss," he mumbled sleepily. "You can't call me Sleeping Beauty without a kiss."

He sure could be adorable when he wanted to be. Butterflies danced in her stomach from anticipation and she grinned at his half-closed eyes. "Fine you pathetic five-year-old," she pretended to growl in annoyance. She propped herself up on her elbow and leaned over him. She pressed her lips against his shyly and pulled away swiftly.

"That's not a kiss," he whined, eyes opening wide now.

"Our lips touched, that's a kiss," she laughed.

He lifted a tousled head off the pillow and frowned. "Alright. If you say so." He unwrapped himself from her and stretched, forcing sleep to escape through his fingertips. Arie couldn't help but notice how cute he was right then and almost wanted to drag him back down and kiss him like crazy. 'Woah, calm down. Hormones make you do stupid things, Arie,' she reminded herself.

"Hey, did you know that Sleeping Beauty is a muggle fairytale?" Fred asked suddenly. "Hermione told me once."

"It is? But it's such a violent story, why would that be a good kid's tale?" She said wonderingly. "I mean, the witch killed everyone in the village including her son in order to find Sleeping Beauty."

"I know right? And every guy who didn't want to marry her for her vault of galleons died instantly when they tried to kiss her," Fred continued. "Muggles are too happy." He concluded.

"That's for sure," Arie nodded along.

Fred quickly sobered and looked over. "Do you ever think about your mom?"

The subject changed so quickly that Arie swore she had whiplash. She could see that the topic of muggles might lead to her mother. "Not really. She left us when I was two. Not even Richard remembers her and he was eight," a stony hand clamped over her chest. "I feel jealous of Josh and Ronnie sometimes. My step mom is a great person and she's never thought about leaving them alone."

Fred dipped his eyes down in sadness for Arie. "She is really nice. At least you have her now."

Arie nodded. "I'm glad dad found her. But what really makes me mad is that mom left my dad because he was a wizard, and four years later she marries another wizard and he's a complete clot!" She ground her teeth loudly. "He tries to make it look better by sending us letters about our mom." She sighed and unclenched her fists. "Sorry, I went off a bit."

"It's fine. I shouldn't have brought it up. I was just curious and it seemed like as good of time as any," he trailed off. "Oh well, you have two families now. My mum always asks me and George about how you're eating." He rolled his eyes at her and she laughed.

"Tell her I'm as fat as a pig after all the toffees she sent my dad last month." She couldn't even look at toffee anymore after that weekend. "I don't think I've ever gotten more sick," she said recalling lying around for several days.

"You didn't tell me that," Fred said with a laugh. "She asked me what your favourites were."

Arie cracked a grin. "Wait so it's your fault that half of them were butterscotch?" She smacked him on the arm. "Thanks to you I never want to eat toffees again."

"Well you were addicted to them, so I think I actually helped you. You'll never be fat now."

"Want to make a bet on that?" She said with a glimmer in her eye. "I can easily make myself fat."

Fred shook his head at her silliness. "No bet. I know how you like food." He put a finger to his head and said in a mysterious voice, "I can see it, ten years from now you'll be round as a pumpkin." He placed both hands on her hips and pulled her dress out like a balloon.

Arie thought about it and laughed. "I don't think so, that would clash horribly with my hair." She put a hand to her curly red hair. "Plus I don't think George would appreciate it if I was fat."

Fred dropped her dress and coughed. "Right, of course he wouldn't," he said quickly and recovered with a smile. "You wouldn't be able to chase him around the house when he blew something up."

"Right, well dinner now." She said lamely. "I haven't eaten in over twenty-four hours at this point." Her stomach gave an all-might growl and she blushed.

"We can't let you starve," he said with a smile. Arie felt something in the air between them change, she couldn't tell what it was or why, but she knew it was there.

* * *

They walked into the dining hall at the peak of dinner rush when the Gryffindor table was nearly jammed. "Hey over here," Arie heard Ginny yell and sat down next to her. Once they were both settled, Ginny broke into a huge grin. "I knew you two were into each other."

"How did you know?" Arie asked curiously.

"You guys have been friends forever and Fred always talked about you whenever you two were apart." Flames spread up Fred's neck. "And Arie, you were always looking for excuses to hang out with Fred, I could tell." Image of sneaking into Fred and George's room to see George popped into Arie's mind.

"Yes, you caught me," Arie lied hastily.

Fred gave her a little nudge. "Yeah, always sneaking into my room at night."

Ginny gave a laughing gasp. "You didn't!" She said shrilly. "Oh Arie, I'm so happy you're dating Fred," she lowered her voice, "You're so much more interesting than bland Becky. She talked me to sleep at least four times last night before I went out to see Colin."

Fred and Arie exchanged significant glances. "Yeah, lucky me for not being Becky," she said with a slight bite to her voice.

"It's weird though. It's like George is really into her. He took her to get a new owl today," Ginny whispered conspiratorially. "She didn't even ask him to, he just took her and got the most expensive hawk-owl there. Where did he get the money for it?"

A sinking feeling made its way into Arie's stomach. If she had been George's girlfriend, he could have taken her to get a kitten, since he knew cats were her favorite animals. "Wow that's really something," Fred said, snapping her out of her thoughts, "what do you think Arie?"

She shook her head and gave a fake laugh. "I think it sounds like he's trying to buy her affection," she replied with bitterness. "A real boyfriend wouldn't have to take a girl shopping, he would just buy it because he knew immediately she would like it." She took a steadying breath. "He wouldn't even have to buy something, he could find something that reminds him of her and give it to her because it means something."

"Holy Merlin's trousers, you're a closet romantic!" Ginny accused while grinning manically. "I never knew!"

Every nerve tingled from her neck up. "No, I'm not," Arie insisted. "I hate romance. I burn romance novels and laugh at people who think it's real. Then I dance in the ashes of their broken relationships."

"Someone doth protest too much," Fred chimed in cheekily. "So if I were to find the worst smelling flower ever and somehow you came into my mind, I could give it to you and you'd accept it?" He asked with a joking smile.

"I would ground it into water and pour it on your head," Arie growled.

Ginny giggled. "Old Arie is back." She stared at Arie's face, then moved to Fred's face and finally sighed. "You know, you two will have the ultimate ginger kids."

For every part that Arie was shocked, Fred was amused at his sister's comment. "Well Ginny, if you look at Arie's brothers, they're both blonde. So it's not for sure our kids will be gingers."

"Joshua is brown-headed though," Ginny said with determination. "The red-headed line has to be in Arie's blood."

Fred peeked at Arie and shook his head at his sister warningly. "Joshua and Arie's mother are not the same." Ginny made an 'Oh' face and fell silent.

"Are you talking about me?" Joshua's head popped up from down the table and he squeaked in delight when he saw his sister sitting there. "Arie!" He jumped up and ran into her arms.

Arie stared down at him, bemused. "I worry about you Josh. When you start acting like a normal sibling by ignoring me, like Ginny does to Fred, I'll feel better."

She felt him pout in her arms. "I can't ignore you, you're my favorite sister."

Fred snorted. "She's your only sister, dummy." Arie narrowed her eyes and flicked him in the shoulder, and he pretended to be in a lot of pain.

"Just because your sister doesn't love you, doesn't mean you have to make Joshua not love me."

Joshua turned from his embrace to stick his tongue out at Fred. "Yeah, I love my sister more than anyone."

Fred tapped him on the head and stage-whispered, "I don't know about that, Josh. I happen to love your sister too." Ginny grinned broadly next to them and Arie looked up, wide-eyed at him. A niggling tingle seemed to float near the back of her mind. For some reason this conversation seemed like déjà vu.

"No you don't," Joshua said sharply and stepped out of Arie's embrace. "Hey, are you excited about mom and dad coming on Thursday?" Joshua asked brightly.

"Why would they be coming here on Thursday?" She asked warily. There were still two and a half weeks left of school.

Joshua huffed and rolled his eyes. "Duh, because you're graduating this year. It's parent's day for all the graduates. Mom and dad and Richard and Martin are coming!" He paused for a second. "I guess Ronnie is coming too," he added grumpily. He always wished he was the youngest of the family.

'Crap crap crap.' Arie chanted in her head. She looked up and matched Fred's look of terror. 'How am I supposed to explain Fred to my brothers?'

"Awesome, that means our mom and dad, and Charlie and Bill will be coming also."

Now Fred looked downright pale a sheet. His mom might see through their entire scheme. She had a nose for hunting down liars. 'Double crap.'

* * *

I'm officially excited: The Rally to Restore Sanity. I live close enough to drive! ~Kukaburry

PS- does anyone know how to get the divider lines to show up on fanfiction? It used to work for me, but now it's completely broken. Thanks for any advice.


	8. Chapter 8

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 8

* * *

Ginny turned away flippantly to talk with Harry who was trying to get her attention.

"Did you know we were having a parent's day this week?" Arie asked while trying to calm down. "I don't think I can do this in front of my parents, and I definitely can't do it front of yours."

"Hey, calm down," he took her hands in his. "It'll be okay. Trust me."

"Do you know how scary your mom is?"

Fred gave her a long. unblinking stare. "She's my mother," he said slowly, "Of course I know. She is terrifying when you make her mad."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Arie said with a scared look.

Sighing, Fred put his face in his hands and grunted. "This is hard." Arie leaned in to hear him. "Let's talk about this later. This isn't exactly the best place to talk."

Arie looked around at all the people and smiled in spite of herself. "You have a point." She looked down the table at George talking animatedly to Becky who only seemed to be paying half-attention. 'Interesting,' she thought.

* * *

After dinner, they found a quiet alcove in the west hall to talk. Arie began working things out in her head. No matter what she did, George was only half-interested in her. What was wrong with her plan? Fred could make any guy jealous with his easy-going way, so it only made sense that George would be jealous of his own brother, right? She imagined if she had a sister, she would be jealous of her.

The more she thought, the more hopeless she felt. This was not going to work at all. She had to stop it before it got out of control and before these weird emotions made her do something she'd regret forever. These thoughts about Fred not as the friend he's been to her for ten years, but as something else. It felt wrong for her to think that way about him, especially when he was doing everything to help her get with George.

"Fred, we have to stop this. It's going to blow up in our faces like a fanged frisbee," she said to her shoes, not wanting to look at Fred.

She felt Fred pace next to her, clearly agitated. "Why? Why would it blow up?" He asked.

"Because we're lying. I thought I wanted George to fall in love with me, but I think I just wanted him to pay attention to me," 'Like you do..', "and I'm staring to feel like a terrible person for wanting that." She inhaled quickly to calm down. "I just feel like it's not going to happen. He's not treating me any differently. He likes Becky. It's wrong of me to try and break them up, even if I do hate her. I can't pretend to date you anymore Fred."

"Then date me for real," he said softly, almost too quietly for her to hear.

She stopped breathing. "What did you say?"

"Date me for real," he said more loudly. She continued to study her shoes to stretch out the time. "Arie look at me," he demanded.

She lifted her head meekly and saw fire in his eyes. "Why?"

He stared at her smoothly. "Why not?"

"Fred Weasley. This is not a time for jokes," she said with barred teeth. "You can't say something like that without having a reason." She looked him up and down, noticing the slight slump in his posture. "It's because of Becky isn't it?"

Something caught in Fred's throat and his entire face lit up like a cherry. He looked at her for a full minute before answering. "Yes. I still like Becky."

Even though she had been expecting that answer, Arie still cringed inside, almost wishing he had said 'no'. "And you've been using me all this time as well?" She continued in the same stony voice.

He put a hand to his neck and wiped at the beading sweat. "Yes," he answered slowly and without emphasis.

"Right, I guess I deserve that," she mumbled in utter disappointment. "Alright. I know what we have to do then." She gave him a very determined look. This was no longer just about her; it was about Fred who'd been by her side for all this time and had never mentioned how he was also suffering. "You have to do some sort of gesture bigger than George's." Fred looked at her, confused. "You know, he gave Becky a new owl. You have to upstage him."

Shaking his head, Fred looked at her suspiciously. "I thought i was the one who was teaching you? Not the other way around."

Arie smiled and shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "I learn from the best." He looked at her curiously and studied her with a contemplating gaze. She felt like giggling while under his gaze. What the hell happened to her?

"I think you're right. I'll do something that George could never top," he said with a glimmer in his eye.

"What are you going to do?" She asked hesitantly. Fred was known for his over-the-top theatrics.

"It's a secret, you'll see soon." Somehow that didn't make her feel any better. He put an arm around her shoulder and led her back to Gryffindor common room. "Don't worry. You're going to love it."

* * *

The next morning, Arie woke up to loud noises in the dorm room. Frantic laughter and giggles along with incredibly loud bangs. "What is going on?" Arie growled, opening up her bed-hanging to look find out what was going on. Something whizzed in under the door and exploded into bright red words: 'Fred loves Arie'. 'I'm going to kill him.'

Ang and Katie gawked at the light display and turned awe-struck faces towards Arie. "Bloody hell, what did you do to him Arie?" Ang asked.

"I don't know, but I won't ever do it again," she said while dressing herself.

Alicia slammed open the door with vigor and rushed up to Arie. "You won't believe what's downstairs in the common room! You have to come see."

Ang and Katie jumped up and followed Alicia out the door. Arie followed on their heels a moment later after thinking of ways to kill Fred Weasley. Little puffs of smoke hit her in the face on her way down the stairs and she became very concerned about what might be going on down there. Embarrassment was on its way, she could feel it. "Woah! Look at that!" Several voices floated up.

In her haste, Arie slipped on the last three steps and tumbled down on top of something very uncomfortable and apparently alive. "What now?" A very familiar voice growled into the stone pressing against his lips.

"George?" Arie gasped, looking down at the unruly red hair on the back of his head. She pushed herself up and helped George to his feet while trying to tame the flames that began crawling up her body.

"Oh, Arie," he replied with a very grim smile. "I should have known it was you," he added with a sigh. "I guess you saw those 'amazing' fire crackers my brother came up with last night." Usually Fred and George complimented each other on new creations, so why was George annoyed about this one? "Becky saw it and said it was romantic, and asked why I hadn't done that for her."

Arie almost smiled when he said that. He was put-off by Becky's comment and Becky was endeared to Fred for his creativity. Things were looking up. "Oh yeah, it's so romantic," she gushed, "I can't believe he surprised me like this."

George gave her a wary gaze and looked up towards the ceiling. "Are you sure you like that too?" She followed his gaze and immediately died of embarrassment. Pinned to the ceiling was a picture of she and Fred six years ago, sitting together on separate branches of a tree, sharing ice cream and talking. The words 'Happily Ever After' were emblazoned in gold across the bottom.

"What the stinking hell is that picture doing up there?" Arie groaned in despair. "Look at me, I look like a boy!" She cried, staring nauseously at the enormous picture on display for everyone to see.

George sniggered at Arie's expense. "Isn't it the thought that counts?" He chided jokingly, knowing that Arie was going to tear Fred limb from limb for this. "He could have used pictures of when you had really bad skin. I think this one is nicer than a lot of other pictures." He said it in jest, but didn't realize what nerve he had finally hit.

Arie snapped. "Fuck off you jerk," she roared, shoving George out of the way and searching for Fred. After grilling several first and second years, she finally found him lounging in the charms corridor. "How could you leave me there by myself," she shouted, hitting him hard on the chest.

"What? You don't like it?" He asked, clearly shocked by her reaction.

"Fred, of course not. It is embarrassing to see 'Fred loves Arie' all over the place and then you have this horrible picture of us stuck to the top of the common room wall that makes me look like a male. What exactly was there to like? I can never show my face in Gryffindor again."

Now speechless, Fred blinked and pursed his lips. He stared at her as if he didn't recognize her, and it made her uncomfortable.

"You know what, it doesn't matter. Mission accomplished. You pissed off George and you got Becky to fall in love with you again. I'll bet she breaks up with him tomorrow and we don't have to pretend to break up anymore."

"That's not what I meant," he said slowly. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. I'm sorry." He was speaking as though Arie hadn't said anything about Becky or breaking up. "I thought you would like the red fire crackers since they're your favorite gag, and you're eating butterscotch ice cream in your favorite tree in that picture." Crap, she hadn't noticed that when George pointed it out. "I thought you wanted me to do something special, something that would make anyone wildly jealous. I didn't mean to make you upset. Is there anything I can do?"

Stubbornness overtook her rationality and she shook her head in anger. "No. I don't think I can handle being around you today." Fred flinched at her words. "I'm sorry," she said, before turning and running away. She thought she would have felt better after yelling at Fred, but now she felt a thousand times worse. What was going on in her head? She shouldn't feel bad for scolding Fred when he embarrassed the life out of her.

"Arie!" Someone shouted next to her ear, making her jump. She turned to see Ginny laughing at her. "I've been trying to talk to you for a minute now. You look really upset." Arie bit her lip and nodded. "Is it because of Fred?"

"Yeah, I just had a fight with him about the 'surprise' he gave me this morning. He's such an idiot."

Ginny understood immediately. "He's not very good at being subtle with his thoughts," she said wisely. "But, he definitely showed how much he cared about you with those things. I thought the picture was very sweet," she made a gagging face, "even if he is my brother."

"I'm not used to so much attention," Arie admitted. "I kind of sit in the background while Fred and George do all the crazy things."

Ginny laughed. "Well, you didn't think very well when you started dating Fred. When you're with my brothers, you're going to get attention whether you want to or not." She stopped and thought for a minute. "Wait, what are you talking about? You're just as loud as either of them. You might not get caught like they do, but I've seen you prank the younger kids and cuss someone out if they got on your wrong side."

"What? No I don't," Arie spluttered. "I've never... I don't do that...", she trailed off in defeat, realizing Ginny was absolutely right. "Crap. Now I feel like an idiot. I shouldn't have gone off on Fred like that."

"No, he deserved it," Ginny said with a shake of her head. Arie looked at her questioningly. "He needs to know that you don't like being in the spotlight because of him, even if you put yourself there all the time."

Arie laughed and felt immediately relieved. "How do you know these things?"

"I've seen things and heard things and done things," she began, but Arie held up a hand for her to stop, blushing furiously.

"Okay, I get the picture. You know more than me. I can believe that." Ginny shrugged and giggled at Arie's expression. "I'll go find Fred and apologize now."

Ginny grabbed her hand roughly and pulled her back. "No, that's the last thing you want to do now, silly. What you want to do is make him wait for you to 'not be mad'."

"But I'm not mad at him," Arie said, confused.

Grinning mischievously, Ginny shook her head. "Yes you are. You make them think you're mad and come back a couple of days later to forgive them and they're putty in your hands."

Arie squinted at the ceiling, thinking. "Do I want him to be putty in my hands?" She asked slowly.

"Of course you do!" Ginny sighed theatrically. "Guys can be trained to do what you want. Trust me, I know, I have a lot of stories I could tell you."

"No, no, no I think I get your point," she said hastily, not wanting to hear any sort of story Ginny might have about her and boys. "How long should I make him wait?"

Ginny did some quick calculations in her head. "I'd say two days would be good. You have to make up before parent's day right?"

"Yeah, that part makes sense. I don't really understand why I have to do it, but I guess I'll see once it's over, right?"

Ginny smiled sagely and snapped her fingers. "Putty in your hands. You'll see."

* * *

Thanks for all of the awesome comments everyone. ~Kukaburry


	9. Chapter 9

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 9

It took all of Arie's effort to not talk to Fred for the first day of operation 'Stay away from Fred'. She dodged him, blocked him, escaped him, tricked him and who knows what else. Frankly, Arie was starting to wonder why any girl would go through so much trouble to pretend to be mad at someone. Each subsequent time she ran into Fred, he seemed even more agitated than before. She heard from Ang and Alicia that he had tried going up to the girl's dorm, and he had made it to the fourth level before the stairs pushed him back down.

The second day was proving a little bit easier. It had been two hours since she had last seen Fred. She managed to throw several people in his path just in time to make a quick escape. She knew he was catching on to her game. Arie was terrible at faking being angry because she was so good at being properly angry. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to make it past tonight without breaking down and admitting she wasn't really mad.

What made matters worse was the fact that the story about Fred's display of love had finally spread through the entire school. Everyone seemed to look at her differently today, especially people she thought she knew well. Her astronomy partner, Halie, wanted to know every single piece of juicy gossip Arie could tell. A guy named Trevor who sat across from her in Herbology kept winking at her suggestively and finally, her friend Marty in Arithmancy wouldn't stop looking over at her.

"Marty, stop staring at me," she growled under her breath while trying to pay attention to Professor Vector who was writing a very complicated problem on the board.

"Are you really dating Fred?" He asked for the seventh time that class period.

She threw him an exasperated look, "Please stop asking me that. Yes, I'm dating him, I mean I was this morning at least."

She piqued his interest with that comment. "What does that mean?"

"It means I'm going to hex your mouth closed if you don't stop bothering me," she snapped.

He sighed and turned away from her, easily writing down the last portion of the problem in his notebook. She turned her head slightly to give him a side-long glance, wondering why he seemed so bothered today. He was a sixth year Ravenclaw with long black hair and glasses. He was also the exact opposite of Fred Weasley in personality. He kept to himself, never got in trouble and was always prepared for class. That was why Arie had become friends with him in the first place, he helped her pay attention and study for Arithmancy.

Class finally ended and Arie walked out with Marty. "So, care to tell me what you meant earlier?" Marty asked.

"You're going to bring that up again?" She groaned, not wanting to tell anyone else what was really going on. He glared at her and she stared right back. "Fine, I had a fight with him over the stuff he did yesterday, and I've been avoiding him since."

"So you're actually going out with Fred," Marty concluded.

"Yes. Why do you keep saying that over and over like it's unimaginable?" Arie snapped defensively.

Marty lifted an eyebrow like he knew something she didn't. He didn't know what was really going on did he? "I heard about a bet you made with Fred. People are saying that you lost the bet and now you have to date Fred for a month."

"Flipping hell, are people actually saying that?" Arie moaned in despair. "This is horrible."

Marty continued to look at her with a peculiar stare. "So are you saying it wasn't a bet?"

"No! It wasn't a bet. I lost a bet to Fred, yes, but I have to wear dresses," she pointed at her outfit, "for a month now. Not date Fred Weasley." She put a hand on her head pulled at her hair angrily. "Geez I hate people sometimes."

"If you say so," Marty replied, still unconvinced that Arie was really dating Fred. "If you want to know my opinion, I think you're too good for him."

Arie stopped dead in the middle of the hall. "What did you just say?" She looked up at him fiercely and challenged him to repeat what he just said.

"Arie!" Fred panted, spotting her from around the corner.

"Oh crap, now look what you've done," she growled at Marty angrily. "I can't get away now." Marty peered down, now completely surprised at the way she was acting.

Fred halted next to them, breathing in deeply. Arie shrank back at the dangerous look in his eye. "Scram Liebowitz," Fred snarled at Marty who gave a parting smile to Arie and walked away down the hall. "I think you have some explaining to do," he said darkly, looking back at Arie.

"Yeah, yeah I do," she said in a somber voice. "Hey, I know, race you to your workshop!" She fake-chirped and prepared to sprint down the hall before Fred grabbed her arm solidly.

"I'm not falling for that one again," he said icily. "You can't pull that stunt twice in two days you know." He tapped her on the head as if it were empty. Arie grumbled and sighed in defeat, slackening her pull against Fred's hand. "We'll go to the room together and talk, no more running away."

Arie clammed up and allowed Fred to steer her towards the interrogation room. Once they entered, Fred locked the door and turned towards Arie with a very annoyed expression. "Alright, what the hell has been going on?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Arie tried to joke, but failed miserably.

"Cut the crap. Come on, you've been avoiding me for two days. You ran away from me yesterday morning for no reason and every time I tried to come talk to you, you made up some sort of excuse or trick to get rid of me." Fred's eyes were red and irritated.

Arie exhaled loudly and stared at the floor, willing away the tears that were threatening to fall any moment. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"You're sorry?" Fred repeated back to her, unbelieving. "What kind of answer is that?"

"It's not," she said quickly. "I don't know, I did it because I wanted to teach you a lesson."

"Teach me a lesson?" He mimicked again.

Arie growled, annoyed. "Stop repeating what I'm saying. It makes me sound stupid." Fred snorted in agreement. "Shut up. I'm trying to explain." Fred rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. "I wanted to do something that would show you how I felt when you embarrassed me yesterday."

"So you run away and ignore me for a day? That was really your entire plan?" Fred asked seriously with a slight grin on his lips.

"I never said it was a good plan," she bit back. "I mean, your sister kind of talked me into it."

Fred spluttered, "She what? What does Ginny have to do with this?"

"Argh, forget I said that," Arie said wide-eyed, face heating up with embarrassment. She looked up in time to see Fred stepping closer to her. She panicked and took several steps back before hitting a wall. "It doesn't matter," she rambled again. "She didn't do anything, I just hatched an evil plot in my head and ran with it."

Fred stopped only inches from her. "Bullshit," he breathed. "Only you could take a plot my sister gave you and screw up so badly." Arie's eyes flashed dangerously.

"What do you mean I messed up my plot?"

Fred grinned and leaned forward. "You messed up by telling me you had a plot to begin with."

"Damn," Arie said in a small voice, "I didn't think about that."

Fred shook his head and chuckled. "That's because you're not the type of girl to go through with evil plots in the first place. And that's what I like about you." Before Arie could think, Fred bent his head and kissed her. She no longer cared why Fred was kissing her because all she could think about was the fact that he was kissing her after all she had done.

He lifted her up slightly and pressed her firmly against the wall, never breaking contact. He slipped his tongue into her mouth and bit down slightly on her bottom lip, causing her to gasp. She pulled him closer and tried to take over the kissing by tracing her tongue along his lips. He 'hmmd' against her lips and she took it as a sign of enjoyment. He tasted like cinnamon and pepper all at once.

She pulled back briefly and began kissing his jaw line up to his ear. Surprisingly, Fred groaned slightly into her neck when she nibbled on his ear and began kissing and licking the sensitive area on her neck right below her chin. A small moan escaped her lips, and Fred grinned, kissing harder. She pulled his head up and kissed his lips, then trailed down to the same spot on his neck and gave him the same treatment. He remained silent and she stopped to look up at his face, concerned that she wasn't doing it right. His closed eyes opened slightly and he looked down, "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Am I doing that right?" She asked softly. He coughed and shifted slightly and Arie felt something press against her leg. She opened her mouth in an 'Oh' position and giggled uncomfortably. "Sorry," she whispered against his cheek.

"That's what you get for doing it right," he whispered back in a husky voice. Arie smiled and giggled in relief. He kissed her lightly and stepped back. "I think that's pretty good for now," he said in his normal voice.

Arie breathed hard and cleared her throat. "Right, we have a charms practical to study for." She said randomly, trying to think of a reason for him to stay.

Fred laughed. "You're right, we do. Want to show me your stuff?"

Arie blinked and grinned, then replied jokingly, "I'm not sure this is a good time for that, Fred."

"Oh shut up you nutter. Come here and try to miniaturize this table," Fred chuckled and pulled her over to the table.

Arie had to do something. There was no longer any doubt, she liked Fred Weasley. Not as a mate, as a real boyfriend. Every time she thought about Becky breaking up with George and telling Fred she was still in love with him, her stomach clenched and her heart ached. She had just spent and entire night having fun, yes fun, learning transfiguration and charms. For the first time since second year, she felt prepared for her charms practical.

She sat in front of the charms room with Fred, waiting for her name to be called. "Weasley, Fred," Flitckwick called into the hall and Fred stood up. He winked at her and strutted into the room. The door closed behind him.

"Hey Arie," a voice said to her right, making her jump.

Sitting on the bench next to her was Marty. "Oh, hi Marty," she mumbled uncomfortably, recalling their conversation from the day before. "How are you?"

"I'm annoyed that you're still with that Weasley kid," he growled at her.

Arie stared at him, shocked. "Why do you care who I'm dating?" She demanded.

Marty barked a laugh. "It's like you don't know, Arie." He scooted closer to her and lowered his head to her level. "Come off it, don't act like you haven't noticed."

Gulping in shock and fear, Arie shook her head dumbly. "What haven't I noticed?"

"Arie," he said slowly, "I like you."

"What? You can't like me, that doesn't make any sense," she replied heatedly and licked her dry lips.

Marty's eyes lingered on her lips and returned slowly to eye-level. "We've known each other for a while now. I'm always nice to you, I help you with your homework sometimes. I helped you study for that last exam we had a week ago," he ticked off on his hand. "Don't you see that you owe me this?"

Now she was angry. "I owe you?" She spat. "I owe you? What kind of sick person are you? Friends are supposed to help each other without asking for anything in return."

Chuckling darkly, Marty shook his head at her speech. "Not when the friends are sexually attracted to each other."

"Are you kidding me? I've never been attracted to you," Arie said, outraged. "You've never even tried to tell me you like me, and now all of a sudden you say these things when I already have a boyfriend?"

Marty shrugged as though it weren't a big deal. "I came to your rescue, Arie. You're dating someone completely wrong for you and I'm giving you a chance to change that. I can change your mind about Fred Weasley, easy."

He leaned forward and pulled her roughly against him and kissed her. The kiss was sloppy and wet and rushed, exactly opposite to Fred. She jerked her head back quickly and prepared to kick him where it really hurt.

"What the fuck, Arie?" Fred shouted from the doorway. "Do you snog every bloke in the hallway when I'm not around?" He said angrily.

"Fred, let me explain," Arie began, but he plowed right over her.

"No, save it. I don't care. It looks like all you do is lie to people. I'm glad I'm not really dating you," he said in a choked voice, then turned and walked off down the hall, leaving Arie standing there like a petrified statue.

"Williams, Aire?" Flitwick squeaked from the doorway.

Arie slowly crumbled and looked at Flitwick like he was an alien. He pointed at his chart and waved her inside and she followed mechanically. Marty made a strangled laugh behind her and said in a pitying voice, "Well, try not to fail." Unfortunately, she couldn't.

Sorry to those who are having issues with fanfiction right now, I'm having the same issues as you!  
And special thanks to my closest friend who allowed me to use her boy trickery in my story.

By the way, if you've never had anyone kiss your neck, try it some time. There is one spot right below your chin that feels amazing. ~Kukaburry


	10. Chapter 10

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 10

* * *

Arie dragged herself out of the charms room and decided to completely skip Transfiguration for the day. She felt the eyes of several Gryffindors on her as she walked into the common room and went up the stairs. Whispers followed her all the way to the top.

Having barley laid down, Arie jolted upright when Ang came storming through the door. "Arie did you really cheat on Fred?" Ang asked cautiously.

"Ugh, how did everyone find out already?" She groaned, pulling a pillow to her face.

"So you did cheat on him?" Ang snapped at her, taking a very offensive position next to Arie's bed.

Arie pulled away and stared up at Ang. "No I didn't. Fred has the completely wrong idea," she snapped back angrily. "Come on, we just started dating. Why would I cheat on him?"

Ang snorted. "Hello, everyone knows it was part of the bet."

"Oh come on, not you too!" She shouted, turning over and smacking her pillows. "I did not date Fred on a bet. I did not cheat on him either. Marty kissed me! I did not kiss him back."

Taking Arie's comments into consideration, Ang quirked her head and thought. "Well, not everyone seems to think so. A couple of people who saw the kiss say that you asked him to kiss you while Fred wasn't there."

"They're dirty rotten liars!" Arie screeched. "The whole lot of them. I was there, I know what happened and I never asked that dimwit to kiss me. He just threw himself on me," she shivered in remembrance. "Let me tell you it was gross."

"Alright," Ang sighed. "I'll believe you for now, but any more funny stuff and I'm going to have to have a serious talk with you." She gave Arie a brief smile and left her alone.

Arie went to bed without going to dinner, dreading the morning. Tomorrow was parents day, a day without classes, and she would be forced to say hello to Fred's mom. Shuddering at the thought of Mrs. Weasley finding out what had happened, Arie wrapped herself in the red comforter and fell into a fitful night of sleep.

She was flying in the Weasley's yard. Fred was flying next to her with the quaffle and tossed it over to her. George was tending the goal in front of her, making faces and waving his arms about distractingly. She threw the quaffle right above his head, but slipped on her broom and ended up completely missing the hoop. "You throw like a girl, Arie! How are you going to make the team?" George mocked.

Arie grew angry and gripped her broom tighter. "Don't let him get to you," Fred called over to her.

"I'm going to knock you off your broom George Weasley!" She shouted and zoomed straight at him like a bullet, missing and hitting the pole.

Several hours later, Arie awoke to Fred's face above her. "Arie! I'm so glad you're okay. I thought you were dead, I couldn't live with that. I love you," he cried with tears in his eyes.

"Fred!" Arie gasped, jerking away from her pillow. The words 'I love you' resonated through her mind. What had she been dreaming about? Arie shook her head clear and rolled out of bed, noticing that the sun had barely risen. She stretched and decided to take a walk around the castle before breakfast to get her blood moving and shake away her jitters.

The early morning air felt crisp against her warm cheeks and each inhale pricked her lungs. Each step allowed her boots to sink into the still-wet grass. She walked down to the lake and stared out across the shadow-reflected waters. How could she have let this happen? Why did she just sit there and let Fred walk away? She didn't want it to be all over, no matter how hopeless this seemed. She had to find a way to talk to Fred today before it became set in stone.

A bell rang near the courtyard, signaling the start of breakfast as well as the beginning flow of parents into the school. Several horseless carriages trotted down the road, and Arie sprinted back to the castle knowing her parents would be the first ones to arrive.

"Hey dad!" She huffed as he stepped out of the carriage.

"Arie!" He bellowed jovially. "What are you doing up so early? I would've expected you to be last one down," he teased.

Arie smiled back. "I was so excited about you guys coming that I just couldn't fall asleep last night," she lied.

"More like she was too busy snogging her new boyfriend," the voice of her brother, Martin, flowed out of the carriage.

Every ounce of blood rushed out of Arie's head, leaving her very dizzy. "How did you find that out?" She asked him coldly as soon as his feet hit the gravel.

"Woah, calm down," he said defensively. "Joshua sent mom and dad an owl yesterday and went on and on about some Weasley you were dating." He said the name 'Weasley' with spite, and Arie couldn't help but smile. Martin had lost to Fred as beater during tryouts five years ago and Martin never got over it.

"Good news spreads quickly," she replied tartly. She had forgotten that Joshua sent home a letter almost every day. During first and second year, she had done the same thing, but by third year she was too cool to send letters home.

The carriage shook again and her dad helped her step-mom out of the carriage gingerly. "Yes, when do we get to meet this new boyfriend of yours?" She asked with wide, curious eyes.

"Please mom, you've known Fred almost as long as you've known me." It was true enough. Dianne had met her dad when she was five. Two years later they were married and expecting their first child. She remembered Fred telling her that she was lucky to have a step-mom because she has less authority than a real mom. The memory sent a pang of guilt and sadness through her.

"Yes, but I've never met him as your boyfriend," Dianne said patiently. "You wouldn't believe how happy your father and I were when we saw that letter," she began. 'Oh no, here goes the 'We always knew you'd end up together' speech.'

Luckily, Joshua ran down the slope at that moment shouting, "Mommy! Daddy!" Arie sighed inwardly at the innocence of her little brother. Sooner or later he would become a real teenager and the rebellion would begin; at least she would probably be out of the house by then.

"Darling," Dianne began cooing at Josh and scooped him into a hug. Dad ruffled his head and they both began grilling him about his classes. Ronnie began pulling on Dianne's leg and whining at the top of his lungs.

Arie thought she was out of danger until Martin and Richard grabbed her and pulled her through the castle doors rather forcefully. "Hey you brats, let me go," she growled at them, trying to pry their steely grips off of her forearms.

Richard shook his head despairingly. "Look at that Martin, what guy would ever want to date such a loud girl?"

"You're right, she's our little brother for sure," Martin replied with a huge grin. "I knew we hadn't lost her."

"Har har, you two are just so funny," Arie said snarkily. "You're just dragging me to breakfast aren't you?" They grinned at her like two puppy dogs and she rolled her eyes. "You'd think you two never eat. Doesn't Callie feed you, Richard? Wait, why isn't she here with you?" She asked, suddenly concerned.

A heavy blush of excitement settled on his cheeks. "She can't really travel right now when she's expecting a baby soon."

"I'm going to be an aunt!" Arie squealed. "That is totally awesome. I'm so happy for you." She hugged him tight until he pulled her away, laughing.

"She sends her love, and a box of butterscotch fudge."

Arie gave him a small smile and tried to seem thankful as they sat down at one of the tables. "So you got any girls you can hook me up with?" Martin asked her suddenly.

She inhaled a potato and began coughing. "What? Like I would let any girl anywhere near you," she spluttered at him.

"Some girls think I'm good for them," Martin defended himself. "Hey who's that girl coming over here? She's kind of cute."

Arie looked up and saw Ang walking over. "That's Angelina you idiot. You know her, she was on the team with us your seventh year."

"Right," he said slowly, looking her up and down. Recognition finally overtook his face and he gave a smile when she sat down.

"Hey Arie, and Martin and Richard," Ang said shyly, looking from Richard to Martin.

Arie grabbed a couple of scones and took a large bite. "When are your parents coming?"

"My mum and sister are coming around eleven, I think. My dad is stuck at work for the day," Ang said in the middle of a bite of an apple.

The rest of Arie's family joined them a moment later and they enjoyed the companionable silence. It almost felt like being home again until a female Weasley head popped around the corner of the entrance hall and popped back out. "Hey let's go to Hogsmeade for the day. The castle is exactly the same as it used to be," Arie suggested casually.

Her parents looked at each other and nodded in unison. "That sounds like a lovely idea. We haven't seen Hogsmeade since we were in school." They both smiled in recollection of their younger years.

"Great, let's go now before everyone goes down there," she said hurriedly, noticing even more Weasleys entering the dining hall.

"I want to go too," Joshua mumbled, hanging onto Arie's arm.

"Sorry, buddy. You have classes today," her dad said in a gravelly voice. "And Arie, I know you're excited, but please let us enjoy breakfast first. Look at all of this delicious food the house elves have prepared for us."

"Daniel! There you are!" The jolly voice of Mr. Weasley shouted as he jogged over to the table along with Mrs. Weasley. "Ah, and the whole crew. Excellent," he said with enthusiasm, looking over the whole Williams family. "And Arie, there you are. You look well!"

"Hi Mr. Wealey. You look great too," she said with a huge grin. They definitely looked in very good spirits.

Mrs. Weasley stepped in front of her husband and held out her arms. "Come give us a hug darling. It's been too long." Arie stood up and was enveloped in a warm hug.

"You should sit with us," Arie's dad began, pointing to the seats next to them.

Arie panicked and shook her head. "No, no. Look, Ginny is already sitting down over there with George and Ron. We'll catch up during dinner, we're actually heading out right now to Hogsmeade," she rushed and ended with a winning smile.

"Alright dear, we'll see you later tonight," Mrs. Weasley agreed. Mr. Weasley said his goodbyes and followed his wife to the end of the table where the other Weasleys sat with sour faces.

"Arie," her dad began in a very serious tone. "What was that about?"

"Yeah, don't you want your boyfriend to sit over here?" Martin chimed.

Arie bent her head abashedly. "Not really, we kind of had a fight yesterday," she said in a quiet voice. "But I don't want to talk about it," she finished sharply, glaring at everyone challengingly.

"Well then we should get going," Dianne said brightly. "I can see why you were so ready to get going." Arie could always count on Dianne to understand how she was feeling. She turned to her husband with a knowing smile. "Let's get going everyone. Hogsmeade awaits."

* * *

A full eight hours and several galleons later, the Williams family returned to the castle for dinner. Arie had nearly forgotten about the fight with Fred since all of her family members decided not to ask her about it. 'I really have the best family ever. They know how to take care of each other and me.'

The despairing feeling returned in force when the shadow the castle loomed ahead. 'I don't want to go back. I want to go home with my parents and never have to deal with this situation again.' Wait, what was she thinking? She wasn't a coward, she was a Gryffindor, and Gryffindors know how to stand up to tough situations.

"Everyone, dinner is beginning," Professor McGonagall shouted from the front door. "We have a special presentation, so everyone needs to come in as soon as possible." Arie wondered what the special presentation might be.

Arie led her family into the great hall and looked over at the Gryffindor tables. The Weasleys sat in the very middle with open spaces on the right and left side. She made a split-second decision of bravery and walked purposely to the seat right next to Fred and sat down and her family joined her. All of the younger Weasleys looked at her with surprise and disdain. "Why are you sitting here?" Fred asked loudly.

"Fred, Arie is welcome to sit with us. Don't be rude." Mr. Weasley said to his son in a reprimanding tone. Arie was slightly surprised that no one had mentioned the fact that Arie was now a most hated person on the younger Weasley's list.

"No she's not dad," Ginny piped up. "Not after she cheated on Fred."

Arie heard her step-mom and dad gasp in shock and anger. "No I didn't," Arie said more to Fred than anyone.

"How can you say you didn't when I saw you?" Fred challenged.

Arie glared at him and inhaled deeply. It was now or never, Merlin help her. Everything was coming out whether she wanted it to or not. "Because we're not actually dating, Fred. Remember?" Now it was the Weasley's turn to gasp. "You wanted me to be truthful, and now I am. I was pretending to date Fred, everyone." She looked at her family and the Weasleys with determined eyes. "I pretended to date him because I had a crush on George."

George grimaced slightly and Arie was surprised that it didn't bother her at all. "It wasn't the best idea I've ever had, but it seemed like a good idea. And yesterday, Marty got jealous because he thought I was dating Fred and he kissed me. I never asked him to kiss me, and I think he's disgusting, but it didn't matter because Fred and I weren't really dating. Isn't that right, Fred?"

Now it was Fred's turn to look ashamed. The entire table looked like a mix between sad, shocked, angry, confused and relieved. "I.. Its not... Arie I don't..." Fred began in a weak voice when the lights turned off completely except for a spotlight at the front of the room.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and stood up at the head table. "Parents and family, thank you all for joining us this evening for our annual Parent's Day Feast. We have a very special demonstration this evening that I think you will enjoy. In honor of sharing with our parents how much our students have learned over the years, our professors have decided to call on select members of their seventh year students to perform spells or demonstrate a knowledge of a topic."

A thunderous applause from the parents met this announcement whereas complete silence enveloped the seventh year students. "Yes, thank you. Here now are our prestigious professors: Professor Snape for Potions, Professor McGonagall for Transfiguration, Professor Sprout for Herbology, Professor Hagrid for Care of Magical Creatures, Professor Vector for Arithmancy and Professor Flitwick for Charms. First up is Professor Flitwick."

Arie sighed a breath of relief. If Professor Sprout had gone first, she was sure she would have been called up to the front. Flitwick unrolled his parchment and waddled into the spotlight with a large smile. He fixed his spectacles and looked out into the crowd then opened his mouth and shouted in a resonating voice, "Arie Williams."

* * *

You guys (readers and stalkers :D) are completely awesome. Your comments cracked me up. Sorry for not updating yesterday, had a midterm to study for. But such is life. Here it is. ~Kukaburry


	11. Chapter 11

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 11

* * *

Arie's heart stopped. "Did he just call my name?" She said slowly, looking at her dad for confirmation.

"Go on up, sweetheart," her step-mom said with a small smile. "It's such an honor to be called up."

Several people at the table gave each other wary looks. It was well-known in the Gryffindor house that Arie could screw up any charm. "Go get 'em," her dad said rigidly, still stuck on the previous conversation. Her brothers shot her goofy faces and knowing grins. Fred remained silent next to her, head in hands. 'I can do this on my own,' she thought fiercely. 'I'll show Fred that I'm not a mistake.'

Becky gave her a strange stare from George's side and George didn't look at her at all. She slowly stood and trudged up next to Flitwick who now stood on a chair to see better. "Arie, my girl, I want to give you another chance to pass the practical. I know you can do it," he whispered to her.

'Oh crap. I failed that badly?' If she didn't pass Charms this semester, her chances at getting any sort of job would be crushed. "Okay," she whispered back to him. "Thanks."

Professor Flitwick lifted his arms and shouted, "Arie will now perform a perfect vanishing charm!" He levitated a stack of books to the center stool.

'He just had to add 'perfect' in, didn't he?' She thought grudgingly. Several people tittered in the audience, which fired Arie up even more. 'Fine then, I'm going to do the best vanishing spell they've ever seen!'

With the blinding light directly in her eyes, it was hard to make out the rest of the people in the crowd. Adrenaline rushed through her body and she felt prepared to show off her knowledge. She centered her mind on the spell and stared dangerously at the books in front of her. She lifted her wand and shouted in a powerful voice, "Evancasco!"

Wind whipped around her and a buzzing noise hovered around her. Everyone looked around for the source of the noise, but saw nothing. Arie looked straight up and screamed as a horde of bees began descending upon her. "Evapscipo!" Dumbledore shouted and the bees evaporated into thin air, leaving behind a heated silence.

A wispy seventh-year girl stood up at the Slytherin table and screeched, "You're the worst. Even I could do better than that, and I didn't pass charms." Several other seventh-years joined her in name-calling. Arie wanted to fall into a hole and die right there.

Dumbledore's voice bellowed out strong and clear, cutting the noise immediately. "Silence everyone. Professor Flitwick, will you give Arie another chance at the spell?"

Arie wished Flitwick looked as confident as Dumbledore, but she supposed he couldn't help it considering the massive hive of bees she had just summoned by accident. "Erm, yes. Yes, I will allow her another try. Please Arie, go ahead when you're ready."

'No, no, no. Are they kidding? There's no way I can try that again. I might end up flooding the castle for all I know.' She took a deep, steadying breath and looked at the stack of books. "Professor, I think I should let someone else do it." She said seriously. Many people shook their heads in agreement.

"By all means, Ms. Williams. If you feel best letting someone else take your place, that is your choice. However, I have a feeling you'll do fine this time," Dumbledore stated in mysterious voice.

"Yes, sir," she replied with a fake smile. "I understand." Another chance. Why couldn't she ask for another chance with Fred? Why did it have to be for a charm? "I'm ready," she felt herself say. 'I practiced this spell for two hours the other day. It's evanesco, Arie. get it right this time. You're a witch, you an do this.'

Without even breathing, Arie flicked her wand and stated evenly, "Evanesco!" The books lightened, disappeared momentarily, then reappeared instantly. She felt her shoulders droop in disappointment. The Slytherin girl hissed scathingly and a couple of people chuckled again.

"Excellent try," Flitwick said with a smile. "I'll give you a passing grade on the test," he said more lowly for only her to hear. She tried to force him a smile and walked back to the table dejectedly. "Mr. Fred Weasley. Please assist me," Flitwick called out.

Fred stood up and walked quietly past Arie on his way up to the podium and her heart sank impossibly lower. She sat down next to Martin who was now talking lowly with Angelina who sat behind him. One look at Arie's face caused everyone to suck back any comment they had for her.

"Mr. Weasley, please try the vanishing spell on this stack of books."

Fred squinted against the light and considered the books for minute before snapping his wrist and yelling, "Evancaspio!" The books tripled in size and crushed the stool beneath them. "Whoops," he said theatrically through a sea of giggles. "How did that happen?" Fred asked in a falsely surprised voice. "Sorry, let me try that again," he waved his wand and shouted, "Evanscapsio!" The books became flat as a piece of paper.

Arie watched in awe as he tried every version of evanesco he possibly could. Finally, with a huge grin plastered on his face, Fred cleared his throat and laughed out, "Evanesco!" The books, now oblong in shape with a strange blue substance on them, vanished into thin air and did not reappear. Every house, except Slytherin, stood up and applauded enthusiastically. Fred bowed and bounded back to the Gryffindor table.

Sitting down next to Arie, he gave her a sincere smile which she returned shyly. 'He did that for me. What a perfect idiot.' Not knowing what to do next, she stuck out her tongue jokingly and turned back to the front of the room. She felt Fred's chuckle reverberate through the bench. Everything in her body flared to life again. She was now absolutely positive she had fallen in love with Fred Weasley. Why the hell had she been obsessed with George when Fred was there the whole time? The idea of Becky and George breaking up made Arie sick to her stomach. She had to do something soon before the inevitable happened.

Once the crowd settled down, Dumbledore stood up with a tiny smile on his lips and nodded towards Fred. "Thank you Mr. Weasley for that entertaining display. Next we have Professor Sprout." A pudgy hufflepuff was called up front to explain how to care for the carnivorous house-plant, Lectovanipor. Each subject went by uneventfully compared to the first diplay from charms. Even Transfiguration was simple with an animal transfiguration spell. Arie couldn't pay attention because all she could think about was Fred sitting only inches from her. She didn't even notice that George and Becky were now missing.

Finally, Professor Vector stepped up and called Marty up front. She heard Fred mutter something threatening beneath his breath and tried not to smile. "Professor Vector," Marty began in a pompous voice, "I would like to challenge Arie Williams to a problem solving contest."

Professor Vector seemed astonished at this request and hushed whispering broke out around the room. "Well, this is a first. I suppose if Ms. Williams does not object, I will allow it," she said with uncertainty.

Arie swallowed hard as every eye once again turned to spot her. "I hate you," she growled under her breath. 'Fine, I'll take you on Marty.' With only slight hesitation, Arie stood up from her seat and walked back into the spotlight where Marty now stood looking confident.

Professor Vector summoned two chalk boards and wrote out the equation to be solved. Large powered letters appeared: Find d^2y/dx^2 for y^2+x^2=36. Arie frowned and looked at the problem for a second. Marty grinned brightly and began writing hurriedly across his board. The process finally came to her and she began solving step by step, not daring to take any shortcuts. A flashback of Marty writing out the process of derivations came to her head and she smiled spitefully. She finally reached the bottom and circled her answer of -36/y^3.

She stepped back, feeling confident until she looked over and saw Marty's answer of 36/y^3. Had she misplaced a negative sign somewhere? No way, this was one of the only classes besides Herbology that she was actually good at. She couldn't fail twice in one day, could she?

"I'm sorry," Professor Vector said in a loud voice, "your answer is incorrect." Crap, she did it again. She began walking back to her seat when Professor Vector stepped in front of her. "Where are you going? You got your answer right, Arie."

"What?" She asked brilliantly.

"You got your answer right," Professor Vector repeated with a slight grin. "Marty missed a negative sign and got it wrong, so you win. You did an excellent job." Several students in the Gryffindor section stood up and cheered. Marty stared at her sulkily and marched back to his seat with an angry expression. "You may go back to your seat," she said after the clapping died down.

Dumbledore stood up in his chair and nodded at Arie. "Yes, well done Ms. Williams. Now I know your stomachs are rumbling, so dig in!" The lights came back on and chatter began once more.

Arie couldn't have felt more elated if she had just done the world's best vanishing spell. The look on Marty's face when he found out he lost was more than she could have asked for. She knew all along that he was trying to humiliate her all over again. She didn't understand what was motivating him to try and humiliate her, but either way she spoiled his plans.

"Arie you were awesome!" Ang cried, hugging her tight. "I didn't know you were good at Arithmancy. You're such a nerd."

Arie smiled, embarrassed. "Shut up. You're just jealous that I'm better at something than you."

"Okay, you caught me. That's the only class I never understood," Ang admitted grudgingly.

"What about Divination? You're crap at that too!" Arie accused.

Ang rolled her eyes dismissively. "Everyone's crap at that class because it's completely fake." A couple of fifth year girls glared hard at Angelina's statement. "Don't look at me like that you little brats. Divination is a complete waste of time."

"She's right, girls," Arie said backing her up. "Take everything Trelawny says with a grain of salt." The girls barred their teeth and turned their backs on the conversation. "I think we just dashed their dreams," she said with an unconcerned yawn.

Martin pulled Ang away and Arie turned around to find Fred beaming at her like the Chesire cat. "Um Fred, you're kind of scaring me," she said nervously. "You know, I wanted to thank you for what you did earlier. I can't believe you made a fool out of yourself like that and.." she couldn't finish since Fred had enveloped her into a hug.

"You did great, Arie," he whispered in her ear as he pulled away. "I think we have some things to talk about later," he added seriously. "I think we need to give each other a second chance to clear things up."

Nearly in tears, Arie sniffed back a couple of drops and nodded her head vigorously. "That sounds like a great idea." A hand grabbed her and pulled her away roughly. George shoved past Arie angrily and stopped right in front of Fred, face completely flushed red. "Are you two happy now? Becky just broke up with me because she still likes you!"

* * *

It was just my guess that Arithmancy would be like physics/calculus. And yes, I did a very simple derivation equation I didn't feel like solving out a huge problem because I'm lazy like that. As always, you guys are awesome. ~Kukaburry


	12. Chapter 12

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 12

* * *

"She really said that?" Fred asked steadily. Arie wondered what he was really thinking- whether he was having second thoughts about Becky or if he was actually ecstatic that she broke up with George.

"Of course she said that," George bit back angrily. "She said she didn't think I really liked her and since you and Arie aren't really dating, then she would have a chance at dating you again."

Arie suddenly felt slightly ashamed or blurting out the truth in front of everyone like that, she never thought about how other people might be affected. Maybe it wasn't too late to patch things up with George and Becky. She watched as Fred and George argued with each other and snuck away quickly into the side hallway where Becky sat looking outside. "Hey," she said quietly.

Becky turned around and frowned. "What do you want?"

"I'm just here to talk," Arie said as gently as she could. "I just want to know why you broke up with George."

"That's what you wanted to talk about? I thought you would have thrown yourself at him by now," Becky replied snidely.

Arie ground her teeth and glared hard. "No. I have more pride than that. I thought you should know that George really likes you."

Becky stared back, unbelieving. "Why would you tell me that? I thought you liked him, this doesn't make sense."

"I'm telling you because it's not right for me to try and make George like me when he very clearly likes you. I don't know why you broke up with him when all he's done is treated you nicely."

"Treated me nicely?" Becky snorted. "He bought things for me and told me how good I am at spells and showed me off like some kind of trophy," she said bitterly. "Fred at least made me laugh. That's why I used George in the first place to try and make Fred jealous." She threw a disgruntled look at Arie. "I can't believe you did the same thing with Fred."

Arie couldn't believe what she was hearing. "And you never tried to talk to him about that? It took a split second decision for you to break up with him? That's just dumb. George is crazy about you and you're letting him go."

"Like I said, why don't you date him then? You're the one who's been in love with him for so long, right?" Arie sighed and stared at her feet. Becky grinned nastily in comprehension. "You don't like him anymore do you? You like Fred."

"Shut up!" Arie growled in embarrassment. "I'm telling you the truth about George. I'm trying to help you out here."

"No you're not," Becky replied hotly. "You're trying to get me to go back to George so you can have Fred. Well that's not going to happen. It's obvious he doesn't really like you more than as a sister, just like George. If I were you, I'd stop pining after Weasleys altogether. Neither of them will ever love you."

Arie felt a hot flame of rage overcome her. Lines blurred around Becky as she focused all of her energy on the target before her. She flicked a ball of dark energy angrily towards Becky who fell over in a dead faint. 'Crap, I shouldn't have lost my cool.' Arie thought frantically. The sound of footsteps coming towards the door caused her to panic and run back into the Great Hall. Arie hurried back to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to her family with a painfully fake 'innocent' smile.

"So, Arie, what exactly is going on with you and Fred and George?" Her dad asked her seriously as soon as she dug into the dessert.

"What do you mean?" She squeaked through a mouthful of cake.

Her dad glanced behind her at Fred and George still heatedly talking. "Why are they fighting? And why are you ignoring them?"

"Dad, it's none of your business, but George and Becky broke up and George is blaming Fred. I have nothing to do with it." She finished and stared at him steadily.

"So that means you're going to jump on George later, right?" Richard said in a sly voice.

"Richard, leave your sister alone," Diane said softly with a hint of anger. Richard flinched back and quieted like a two-year-old. "And Daniel you stop pestering her too. It's her life and we need to let her do what she wants. You two are out of line for bothering her." Arie very nearly cheered when Diane stuck up for her, but was smart enough to remain silent. "Well, we should get going. Ronnie, come on darling," she said, hauling up a very sleepy Ronnie. "Richard you should come too before your wife starts worrying. Martin, we'll see you later."

Richard nodded and followed Dianne and Daniel in giving good-bye hugs to Arie and the Weasleys before leaving. Martin waved them good-bye along with Arie and Joshua. They returned to their seats to finish dessert.

"Arie," Fred's stony voice said behind her. She turned to find Fred looking down at her with a very angry and grim expression. "Come with me." She got up slowly and followed him out the side door into the hall. What was going on?

Arie hoped against hope it had nothing to do with Becky. When they reached the windows where George and Becky stood, she realized hope was not on her side. "Yeah, she did it," Becky said immediately when she saw Arie coming around the corner. "She knocked me out and left me here."

'Oh shit. Oh shit.' How would Arie get herself out of this one? "Arie, Becky says that you charmed her to sleep. Is that true?" Fred asked. Disappointment dripped in his voice.

"I mean, yeah. She was asking for it though!"

"I doubt she deserved to be knocked out," Fred replied heatedly.

Arie opened her mouth in shock. "Are you really defending her?"

"Listen to her!" Becky said in outrage. "She still hasn't apologized for what she did. How can either of you be friends with her?"

George looked at her with an angry glare while Fred looked at her with immeasurable disappointment. "She's not the same girl we've known," he replied darkly. "She's acting like a bitch."

The world stopped spinning for Arie. She felt lost in the infinite stillness. Was the world ending? "You really believe Becky over me?" She had eyes for Fred only. His continuous stare full of anger and disillusionment because of Arie made her feel like maybe she had been out-of-line.

"I found her on the ground," George said. "I think that's pretty easy to figure out."

"And she told us that you attacked her," Fred continued for George. "Why would she make that up?"

Arie's eyes welled up with tears of self-pity. "Fine, I did it. I'm not sorry I did." She continued stubbornly.

George shook his head angrily. "You should apologize Arie."

"Why are you defending her, George? She just broke up with you for Fred," Arie cried in outrage, ignoring Fred completely now. "She told me herself that she doesn't like the way you treat her. I've been your friend for ten years. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

Stunned, George continued to gape at her like a hooked fish. "You are a horrible friend and I'm sorry for ever having a crush on you. You don't know what you're missing with me," she said heatedly, then leaned in and kissed him directly on the mouth in front of a terrified Becky and a flabbergasted Fred. She pulled back a couple of second later and smirked at him. "And you're a terrible kisser." Without another word, she whipped around and ran back to Gryffindor tower.

"Arie! Wait!" Arie turned to see George huffing after her. He was just as slow as Fred when it came to chasing after Arie. "Geez you're like a Firebolt," he panted, stopping next to her next to a portrait of a woman playing with a baby.

"Did Becky send you after me?" She asked cynically.

George frowned and shook his head. "Come on, stop acting like the victim here. I came to talk to you." Arie crossed her arms in defiance, but didn't respond. "I'm sorry for not knowing your feelings, Arie. I've been a crap friend to you. I can understand if you're mad at me."

This conversation was one Arie had not been expecting. "Oh, I see. Well it's not like I told you right out that I liked you. It's not your fault, I was too embarrassed," she admitted in the spirit of being honest. "You've always been a good friend except for last week."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I want to try something," he said hesitantly. "Don't kick me," he warned. He leaned in closer and closed his eyes. Arie watched as his lips inched closer and finally rested against her own. He moved his mouth against her and she kissed him back. Sadly, nothing happened in her stomach or her chest; no feeling of jitters or vibrations. "How was that?" He asked after moving away.

"Actually, it was like kissing a cousin."

George laughed and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it was like kissing a friend. A very attractive friend," he added with a grin. "But I don't think we were meant to do go out." He looked at her slightly sadly.

Arie patted him on the arm and shrugged carelessly. "It's alright. I know you like Becky a lot, I even told her so. To tell you the truth, I think I just liked you because of what happened when we were younger. My quidditch accident."

George thought about it for a minute, "Oh right, when you ran into the goal posts and broke your collarbone. Man that was a wicked fall."

"Yeah, it was. That's a pretty stupid reason for liking someone isn't it?" She laughed at her stupidity.

Shrugging, George smiled at her, confused. "But why would you like me after that? I was the one who got you hurt in the first place."

"Because you carried me back to the house and watched over me until I got better. I still remember that," she said in a convicted voice.

"Well, actually Fred and I both carried you back up there. You weren't exactly light back then," he gave her teasing smile. "But I don't remember sitting by you for too long." He thought about it for a minute straight and shook his head. "No, I don't think I was there more than Fred was. He literally sat there next to you until you opened your eyes. He was such a little girl, he was crying because you wouldn't wake up." Even now the memory of Fred sniveling over Arie made him shake his head in amusement.

Arie stared at him, gob smacked. "Wait, Fred was the one who was sitting there?"

"Yeah. I told you, he sat there for at least four hours." George looked at her curiously. "You didn't know that?"

"No, I really thought it was you…" Arie thought she was going to faint right on the spot.

A grin slowly spread across George's face. "Wait, so that means you've liked the wrong guy this whole time?"

"I'm such an idiot," she groaned in frustration. "I've completely blown it!" She banged her head against the wall angrily. "George, what do I do?" She whined, nearing hysterics.

George looked at her, concerned about the sturdiness of her head. "Arie, it's okay. Just go talk to him. He's my brother, I know him well." This conversation echoed strangely in Arie's mind. It seemed much too familiar. "Go on, what are you waiting for?" He urged, pushing her back down the stairs towards the entrance hall. "I'll go with you and apologize to Becky for treating her badly," he offered. "I was just so surprised that she asked me out, I didn't know what to do with her. I liked her since fourth year when we got stuck together as lab partners in Herbology."

Wow, George was just as bad as her at telling people his feelings. "Tell her, not me!" Arie said encouragingly. With George next to her this time, she knew she could tell Fred exactly how she felt. She knew her feelings were genuine now and they wouldn't be easily changed. "Alright, let's do it."

They both scampered back down the stairs, taking the steps two and three at a time, managing to fall only twice each. They slid to a halt one corner away in order to catch their breaths. "I'm nervous," Arie admitted.

"Don't worry. I think Fred has had a thing for you just as long as you have. There's no way he could say no to you."

Arie breathed in heavily and exhaled. "Thanks. Can you make me a promise?"

George looked at her hesitantly. "I guess I could."

"Please be my friend once you start dating Becky again," she said with an innocent smile.

His face broke into a wide smile. "I can do that."

They knocked hands together in agreement and took two confident steps around the corner, heading straight in for the attack. Both of them froze in their tracks when they saw Becky and Fred locked in a kiss against the sidewall. All hell broke loose in Arie's mind. Nothing could have made her angrier than to see Becky carelessly kissing Fred even when she knew how Arie felt about him. She tore out of George's grip and stomped over to the couple with purposeful steps, stopping only to push Becky violently. Lifting her hand quickly, she smacked Fred hard across the face leaving a white indent on his cheek. Hot tears ran down her cheeks as she spat out three words she thought she would never say, "I hate you."

* * *

Sorry for the late update! Another round of terrible colds went through my school and I caught it again. :)

I might not be able to update for a couple of days. Another big project due on Monday. Hopefully it'll turn out easier than I thought again. :)


	13. Chapter 13

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 13

* * *

Snippets of conversations with Fred rolled through Arie's head like a steam-engine as she ran through the courtyard, down the slope, past the lake and out into the fields. Tall weeds lashed against her legs, but she continued to run. How could she have been so wrong about him? Everything leading up to today seemed real and unforced. She had become so blinded by how she felt around Fred, that she hadn't even noticed his true feelings about her.

The night air burned her throat and each breath became more labored. She dashed into the side of the Forbidden Forest and cut straight across a well-worn path in the brush. How many times had she snuck in here while chasing after Fred and George? Arie crossed out those memories. 'Stop thinking.' Through the clearing she spotted her favorite place, her tree. She shimmied up the trunk and hauled herself up to the highest remembered when George took the picture of her and Fred up here.

* * *

It was a perfect spring day during fourth year and they had just finished a really hard Potions exam. Fred and George had already snuck down to the kitchens and stolen a box of ice creams. The twins and Lee had mentioned sneaking into the forest afterwards, and Arie had raced ahead of them to get her favorite spot. "I'm queen of the tree!" She yelled down at them from the top branch.

"How'd you get up there so fast?" Lee asked, staring up in amazement, dropping the box of ice cream at the base of the tree.

"She's part monkey," George laughed. "Hey Fred, you and Lee should go up there and I'll take a picture with the camera we stole from Creevy."

Arie pouted and shouted, "Why don't you come up here, George?"

"Because I want to see Fred climb this tree," George replied simply. He knew Fred was afraid of tree-climbing ever since he fell and broke his arm when he was nine. "I'll come up if Fred goes up." George added baitingly.

Fred stared at the tree for several minutes as if waiting for it to speak or solve something for him. "I can take the picture and you can climb the tree," he replied simply.

With an incentive of George coming up to her, Arie formed a devious plan in her head. "Fred Weasley!" She began in a mysterious voice. "I'll bet you a months supply of dung bombs that you can't get up here."

"You're supposed to be on my side!" Fred yelled back, clearly hurt by her statement.

"Not when you're acting like a little girl," she taunted with a grin.

Lee laughed and nudged Fred. "Look at Arie. Bringing out the big bets. What will I get if I come up?" He asked with a hint of flirtation.

"You'll get my shoe in your face, Jordan. Just try me," Arie spat, daring him to test her.

"Why so hostile?" He asked with a fake frown.

Glowering at him, Arie ticked off five things immediately, "You dyed my hair green, you put a snap card in my drink, you glued my shoes to each other, you switched my parchment with George's so I would have the wrong answers when Flitwick asked me, you set off a dungbomb in my potion... Do I really need to continue?"

"You're just an easy target!" Lee howled with laughter. "That dung bomb was so worth the week's worth of detention."

"That I had to share with you, you idiot!" Arie reminded him angrily.

George walked over and leaned on Lee's arm and pointed at the tree. "Children, children calm down. You're missing it all. Look at Fred, he's already halfway up the tree!"

Arie looked down and saw Fred grasping at branch only a meter below her. "Merlin, Fred, look at you. You're a real tree-climbing monkey!" He grinned briefly and firmly pulled himself up to the next set of branches. If she hadn't been staring so hard, Arie might have missed the tremors that ran up and down Fred's arms. She realized that he was breathing pretty hard as well. It suddenly hit her that Fred really was terrified of climbing up trees.

"Don't look down!" Lee shouted jokingly. "You're almost there."

Fred froze one branch below Arie and began sweating profusely. "Are you alright?" Arie asked, now concerned that he wouldn't be able to move.

"I'm fine," he said in a strangled voice. He grasped the trunk in his left arm and gripped the upper branch with an iron fist. "It's not as easy as you say it is."

"Hey Fred, look up here," she said quietly. "Come on, you're so close. You just have to jump up." He looked up at her in determination, swung his leg over the upper branch and twisted around. Arie grasped his arm and helped him right himself. "See, I told you it was easy." She grinned knowingly at him.

Fred shook his head in disagreement. "You'll never get me to do that again." He inhaled deeply and laid his head against the trunk. "I expect those dung bombs by next week." Arie rolled her eyes and smiled knowing that he was coming back into his old self. "This seems like a good time for ice cream," he said while taking out his wand. "Accio ice cream."

"Get mine too," Arie said in a high-pitched girly voice. "Please?"

"You're going to have to learn that spell eventually," he sighed. "I thought you were practicing it earlier?"

Arie raised her eyebrow in surprise. "Fred, I said that to McGonagall to get her off of my back. Come on, you know me better than that. I was trying to charm Lee's book into biting him every time he opened it."

Fred stared at her, perplexed. "How is it that you can master the most insane charms ever, but you can't do a simple hover charm?"

"I'm gifted," Arie said while smiling brightly. In truth she just did not care about practical charms, they were not as fun. "Come on, I'm hungry over here. Get my ice cream."

Grumbling, Fred looked back down at the ice cream box and summoned a second one. It floated up and landed in Arie's lap. "Happy now, spoiled one?"

"Yes!" She laughed and took a large bite of her chocolate cone. They were so zoned into their conversation that they had forgotten George and Lee were below them.

"You two, look down here!" George shouted from the ground. Surprised, Arie and Fred turned their heads and looked at George who held Colin Creevy's camera in his hands. "Come on, pose for me." Fred shifted away from his safe position next to the trunk and pulled Arie close to him just as George pressed the trigger. "Great, I'll talk Creevy into developing this picture."

Arie rolled her eyes and grinned at Fred's silliness. "You're acting really brave," she pointed out, surprised that he was so far away from comfort.

Fred grinned back and looked around and a forlorn expression overcame him. "Crap, I have to get down now."

* * *

Arie leaned her head against the lumpy bark and sighed in frustration. The comforting scent of wood and moss helped dull the headache that had begun raging in her head. What had she missed all of these years? Everything she thought about from the past was raging clues that Fred was perfect for her, and she had just missed it entirely. Now she was dismally too late to do anything about it.

She didn't want to go back to the castle and face Fred. She wondered if there was a way to go home and miss the rest of school. The moon appeared from behind a roll of clouds and lit up the forest around her. She looked down at the clearing and nearly screamed in fear when she noticed someone looking up at her.

"I knew I would find you out here," Fred said slowly. Arie almost responded, but held her tongue in anger. She would ignore him. "I came out here to talk to you, Arie." She continued to stare at him in decisive anger. "Please, give me a chance to explain."

"Fred Weasley, I've had it with you. You can go shag your girlfriend now because I don't give a rat's ass what you have to say. There's nothing to explain to me. I saw everything that happened so go away."

Fred growled and smacked his fist against the base of the tree. "She's not my girlfriend. I don't want her as my girlfriend, Arie. That's what I'm trying to tell you."

Arie snorted a laugh. "Yeah right. Kissing her proves that you don't like her at all," she said sarcastically. "Nice try."

"Why are you so angry about us kissing, anyways?" Fred asked seriously.

"I'm not mad!" She shouted back. Fred gave her a quizzical look. "It's none of your damn business."

"How is it not my business? I did something and it hurt you. I think that's precisely my business," he said challengingly. "Is there something you need to tell me, Arie?"

She cringed at the way he called her 'Arie' in such a friendly way. "It doesn't matter, Weasley. It's something you wouldn't care about."

"Tell me," he urged.

"No," she shot back quickly.

He was becoming annoyed at her antics. "What am I supposed to do then?"

"You can always leave," she suggested. Fred folded his arms and continued to glare. Arie felt herself saying, "Or I'll tell you if you climb this tree."

Fred looked up at her, aghast. "Are you serious?" She looked down at him evenly, her face stony. "Fine then." He rolled up his sleeves and hopped from branch to branch quickly, almost wildly in Arie's opinion. He reached the branch right below her, grabbed the bottom of the limb, and swung his legs up, just as he did in fourth year. Suddenly, he was sitting quietly next to Arie. The only sign of his unerring fear was his trembling hand.

"Shit," she grumbled. How did he get up here so quickly?

Fred smiled grimly. "You didn't think I would come up, did you?" Her silence answered his question. "You need to learn that I always take you at your word. Now you had better tell me right now why you were so upset." His steely gaze chilled her to the bone. For some reason her entire body became tight with tension in his presence.

Her breath caught in her chest and she hitched on her words. "Well, I think, that is, I kind of fell in love with you," she said quickly without looking at him. "You were sweet and fun to be around. You and I have everything in common and I couldn't believe how comfortable I felt around you. And when we kissed, I never wanted it to stop." She rambled on, looking only at her hands folded in her lap.

"And then I talked to George and he told me how he thought you liked me, so I tried to come back and tell you how I felt. But then when I saw you kissing Becky I got so angry and," a fresh wave of anger overtook her as she thought about the incident with Becky again, "And I really hate you right now Fred. I hate myself for falling in love with you. I thought you were the best guy I had ever met and then you don't feel anything for me. I just can't tell you how awful that makes me feel."

She stopped for a second and took a ragged breath, finally daring to look up at Fred to see his reaction. Half-expecting a look of disgust, she was surprised to find Fred looking at her with a smile on his face.

"Arie, you idiot," he sighed, looking down at her with a frown.

Blood boiling, Arie clenched the branch beneath her hard and ground her teeth. "I know I'm an idiot! You don't have to tell me, moron. You love Becky and I was just someone you used to get her back. You have some nerve telling me…"

Fred's lips crashed against hers with fervent desire. He pulled her against his chest and held her tight as though she might escape him forever. Tears rolling down her cheek, Arie kissed him back fiercely, biting his lip and tangling her hand in his hair. She cried against his cheek and tasted the salt of her tears on his lips.

He pulled back and wiped his thumb across her wet cheek. "Arie, you idiot. I love you."

Thanks once again for the hilarious reviews. Last week was terrible and you guys cheered me up.

Yay for easy projects. I should keep this up. Every time I have a project coming up, I'm going to freak myself into thinking that it's going to be impossible and found out it's actually easy. This is what I love about programming... you never know how the hell you got it to work.

~Kukaburry


	14. Chapter 14

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 14

* * *

Arie stared at him, gob smacked, for an entire minute. She could hear nothing but the pounding of blood in her ears. "You, you love me?" She asked dubiously. This had to be some kind of impossible dream. "But you were kissing Becky! I don't understand."

Fred groaned in frustration. "That's what I was trying to tell you. I wasn't kissing her." Arie couldn't understand why he was being so persistent about it.

"What do you mean you weren't? George and I both saw you. She had her tongue shoved down your throat."

Fred pressed a finger to her mouth. "Arie, shut up for a second. Think about it, when I blamed you for kissing Marty. I saw you kissing him with my own eyes."

"I didn't kiss Marty! He kissed me!" How many times did she have to say it for him to understand?

Moving his hand over hers, Fred nodded in agreement. "I know. I believe you."

"So why would you bring it up...oh." She finally understood where he was going with this conversation. "So you didn't kiss Becky?" She asked in a small voice.

He chuckled and gave her a winning smile, thankful that she finally understood. "No, I didn't kiss Becky."

Arie couldn't believe how easy it was to believe Fred. He had assumed the worst of her and she had done the same to him. In the end they both believed each other. Now everything seemed like Becky's fault instead. "That little bitch. I'm going to curse her into a million pieces."

A bemused grin spread across his face and he forced back a chuckle."Why?"

"Because I told her I liked you and she kissed you on purpose." She began planning a devious prank to pull on Becky. One that would humiliate her forever. "Damn it, why did I let you ask her out?"

"Because you didn't like me then?" He suggested lightly.

Arie blinked, sudden realization hitting her like a bag of bricks. His comment triggered a link to the conversation she had with George only a half-hour before. She turned her face into the light of the moon and squinted hesitantly. "I..um... well, actually I have a confession," she said slowly. "I kind of lied to you about how long I liked George."

Fred's hand became tense against hers. "I don't think this is a good time to go over that. We both just found out we love each other and you want to talk about George?"

"No, it's not like that. Just listen please. I liked George starting back when I was seven. When we were playing quidditch and I fell off my broom. He carried me back to the house and watched over me. I remember waking up and seeing him and he said that he loved me." Arie hoped he would make a move and tell her he was the one who had watched over her.

Fred's face remained impassive. "That explains a lot. George should be grateful you remember that and appreciate him for it."

Arie sighed in slight disappointment. It was just like him to let someone else take the credit. "Fred," Arie began in a lecturing voice. "I told George already."

He rolled his eyes and shrugged, annoyed. "So why are you telling me?"

Arie couldn't hold it any longer. "He said it wasn't him." If Fred wouldn't come out and say it himself, then she would tell him she already knew. "He told me it was you."

A rush of blood dotted flushed his cheeks and ears. He hadn't been expecting that answer. "Ah, he told you that?"

"Yes, he did." Arie snapped her head towards him earnestly. "Fred, don't you see? That means I was in love with you this whole time. That was the reason I fell in love with George," she breathed, unable to hold back her ecstatic grin, "which turned out to be you."

Fred's eyes widened as he looked from her face to the canopy of leaves above. "I can't believe that was why you were so obsessed with him. I mean, me."

"Obsessed?" She asked, the word leaving a foul taste in her mouth. "That's a little strong."

Fred snorted. The word obsessed was far from 'too strong'. "No, you followed him around like a puppy. It was really hard to watch," he admitted. He looked up with a secretive smile. "I have a secret too. I had a crush on you when you fell off of your broom." Arie pulse quickened again. "Maybe it was a good thing you didn't know it was me that was watching over you because I'm pretty sure I would have been turned off by your obsessive stalking and you would've ended up with George instead."

"Gee, thanks," she mumbled, taking offense to half of his comment.

He pulled her closer and leaned his head against hers. "You're cute when you pretend to be mad."

Smiling slyly, she giggled instinctively. "Oh shut it. Stop making me act like a girl."

"No," he chuckled, grinning like a schoolboy.

Bells rang in the distance announcing that it was an hour before everyone had to be in their dorms. "Maybe we should get back before we actually get in trouble," Arie murmured against Fred.

"You're right. I'm sure your brother is wondering where you are too."

"Oh crap, you're right. I completely forgot about Martin," she screeched in annoyance. "I'll never hear the end of it if he finds out I was with you out here." She sighed dramatically.

Arie pulled herself out of Fred's embrace and hopped down from branch to branch and waited at the bottom while Fred hesitantly slithered down the trunk while trying not to look down. "You're getting better at tree-climbing," she mused aloud.

"You're the only reason I would ever climb a tree," he admitted with a slight blush.

"Augh, stop with the cuteness," she pretended to stick her tongue out in disgust. "It's going to take me a while to not laugh at comments like that."

Shaking his head in amusement, Fred casually slung an arm around her. "Please, laugh at them. I hate those comments too. How about every time one of us says something too cute we're allowed to prank them."

She titled her head to the side and pursed her lips while contemplating. "I like that idea," she smiled sneakily at him. "That might make me try to fish for cheesy comments. So watch out."

"Thanks for the heads up," Fred chuckled in return.

They walked into the main hall, hand in hand, and ran straight into Martin. "Hey, I was looking all over for you!" Martin said with a bright smile on his face. "I was getting worried."

Furrowing her eyebrows in disbelief, Arie shot a bewildered look to Fred and turned back to her brother. "Right, you look so concerned," she responded sarcastically.

"I was!" He insisted while continuing to grin goofily. "I'm just in such a good mood."

From the look on his face, Arie determined that he might have gotten hit on by a girl. "Did a pretty girl ask you out?" Arie mocked with small grin.

Martin rolled his eyes and huffed a small breath as though Arie were keeping him from saying something important. "No! I asked Angelina out and she said 'yes'."

"What?" Fred and Arie both shouted in unison. Had they heard him right?

"I didn't even know you liked her!" She sputtered. What in the world did Angelina see in Martin?

Martin grinned widely and nodded his head in assurance. "Well, actually, back when I was in school, Angie and I kind of had a thing going. We would meet each other at night and.."

Arie threw up her hands and covered his mouth quickly. "Okay, don't need to hear any more." She really did not need any more details about his supposed relationship with Angelina.

"I thought I heard rumors about that back in third year," Fred said with a sly smirk.

"That's disgusting," she mumbled at her brother. "No wonder she kept asking me about you." She suddenly felt confused about her friendship with Angelina. Had Angelina only been friendly with her in order to get information about Martin?

"Yeah, well I'm happy and I think mom and dad will be too," Martin said with girlish sigh. "Anyways, I have to get going before they throw me out. It was great seeing you squirt," he hugged her tight, "and you, Fred." He said with an overly aggressive pat on Fred's shoulder. "I'll see you this weekend maybe since I'm taking Angelina out to Hogsmeade."

Arie suddenly smiled widely, realizing her brother had yet to recognize the change in air between her and Fred. She wanted to keep it that way. "Great, that sounds like fun. Have a good trip home." She practically shoved him out of the castle door. They waved goodbye until McGonagall closed and charmed the door locked. They spun around in silence and began walking back to Gryffindor tower.

"That was weird," Fred commented while holding back a laugh.

"Please tell me I didn't just hear that," Arie said with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, but you heard that." He said slowly. A sudden idea hit him. "I'm going to start taking bets on how long it lasts." He began counting his imaginary profits in his head.

Arie giggled at his ridiculousness. "I'm going to throw in a bet of two weeks."

"I'm holding you to that bet," he laughed. "I don't know who the victim of their relationship is. Martin is kind of a dick."

"To you," Arie pointed out. "He is nice to girls and guys who he actually likes."

Fred shrugged and conceded. "Fine, but he is still a dick. Angelina is kind of prissy."

Arie snorted. "That's the understatement of the year."

Stopping suddenly, Fred smacked his face in mock shock. "Hold on, now that I think about it, maybe they're actually perfect for each other."

Arie began giggling uncontrollably. "You're totally right. Angelina might stop him from being a dick to you," she threw out as a possibility. Fred looked unconvinced. "I hope my step-mom can handle her. She's not used to girly girls."

A smile of pure enjoyment spread over Fred's face. "Oh man, I have to be there when he introduces her to your mom."

Smiling shyly, Arie nodded. "I promise I'll bring you over."

Fred spontaneously pulled her close and kissed her quickly. "Damn it's hard to not kiss you every time you act shy. You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

"You'll have to tell me some time," she teased, pulling on his shirt flirtatiously as she walked towards the portrait of the fat lady. "But I think we have something more fun to do tonight."

He grinned mischievously at her suggestive tone. "I told you my kisses would leave you wanting more."

Arie simply raised her eyebrows and said "Caput Draconis" to the picture which opened towards them. They climbed inside and immediately knew something was wrong. Becky and George stood in the middle of the completely silent room. A thick layer of tenseness enveloped them right as the portrait closed behind them.

Becky turned her head sharply so that her blond curls bounced around her face. "Arie, is it true that you and George kissed again?"

* * *

Becky is so damn dramatic! Why did I make her character like that? *bangs head* Oh well, good news: Almost done! How many of you saw the Angie/Martin thing coming? I tried to throw in clues throughout a couple of chapters. :) Thanks for all of the reviews and sorry for this chapter being a day late. I went to a football game yesterday and good gracious was it hot. I got dehydrated, came home and fell asleep for the rest of the day :). So a good lesson from this is to always drink water when it's hot... yeah... ~Kukaburry


	15. Chapter 15

A Friendship Broken

By Kukaburry

Chapter 15

* * *

"Did you and George kiss again?" She asked shrilly.

Arie looked at George whose jaw was clenched in frustration and eyes staring at the floor. "Yeah," she replied passively.

Smiling in success, Becky folded her arms and turned back to George. "How could I date you again when you've clearly moved on to her."

"Are you crazy?" Arie snapped. "Did you even try to find out his side?"

"Shut up, I'm not talking to you," Becky shot back. "It doesn't matter about his side."

Fred stepped in front of Arie and glowered heavily at Becky. "Why are you trying to start a fight?"

Becky's shoulders hunched forward momentarily. She narrowed her eyes and stared at Arie evenly, fury flaming throughout her face. "Because Arie always gets your attention!" Arie and Fred exchanged confused glances. "It's not fair. You asked me out even though I knew you liked her, and when you were with me you'd always put her before me. George did the same."

George, Fred and Arie stare at her open-mouthed. "I never meant anything by it," Fred said defensively. "You were always bad-mouthing her, what was I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to support your girlfriend, you idiot," she said with a sour sneer. "You should not have asked me out if you weren't going to treat me with respect."

"We've known each other for ten years. We're like family," Arie replied with a determined frown, trying to reason out why Fred and George could possibly want to talk about Arie. "If they talked about me, it's because I'm an important part of their past."

Becky shook her head and smiled grimly. "What a selfish thing for you to say. You're acting like you're the only person who gets their attention. Do you have any idea what it felt like for me?" Arie thought about it for a second and shrugged. "Of course you don't. You've never been on the other side."

"Can we talk about this somewhere else?" Fred asked, cheeks turning red from embarrassment.

"No, I want everyone to hear this. The Weasley twins are not as cool as everyone thinks they are," she said shrilly, voice cracking with ill-hidden rage.

Feeling the eyes of the room shift towards she and Fred, Arie cast a nervous glance to her right. Fred's nose twitched while the rest of his face remained motionless. "You're right."

Becky blinked, unsure of what she just heard. "What?"

"I said you're right. I liked Arie before I asked you out. I'm sorry I never realized how I was acting."

Arie was startled by his comment. "Fred, you don't have to tell her that. She's being unreasonable."

"No, Arie, she's not." He turned to look at her with serious eyes. "It was wrong of me to treat her the way I did. What if I did that to you? How would you feel?"

A blush crept up Arie's neck. Now she felt like a bitch. Fred was right, she would be really pissed off if someone asked her out and then ignored her. She thought back to a couple of weeks ago when she was internally making fun of Becky and Fred's lack of relationship. Maybe she should have been a better person and told Fred that he was bad boyfriend to Becky. She just didn't realize until it was too late. "I'm sorry. You're right, Fred."

His gaze softened and he turned back to Becky. "You're right to be angry at me. I was a dick, I admit it. You deserve better."

Becky's mouth opened slightly. She looked like she wanted to continue fighting, but couldn't think of anything to even fight about. Instead, she turned away from Fred and faced George. "What about you? Are you going to apologize to me?"

George set his jaw and snorted. "No. I'm not going to apologize to you. Anything that I'm sorry for, I've already told you. I never talk about Arie, and I can't believe how selfish you're acting right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Can't you tell that Fred just asked Arie out for real? I mean, look at them. You're starting a fight when all they want to do is go upstairs and snog."

Both Fred and Arie began turning ten shades of red at that comment. "George.." Arie whispered self-consciously.

"Is that true?" Becky asked, turning a suspicious look on Fred and Arie.

"Yes," Fred replied, quirking a smile at Arie who gave one in return.

A look of brutal disappointment crossed her face. "Even after what I told you?"

"I'm sorry, it's hard to change the way I feel about someone," he said as gently as he could. "You're pretty and smart so you'll find someone."

"Just shut it, I don't care what you have to say anymore," Becky snapped before running past Arie and out through the portrait hole.

"Merlin that girl is so touchy," Arie growled. "The only thing that would make her like me now is if I broke up with you."

Fred raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Do you care if she likes you?"

"No. I was just trying to make conversation."

"You dope," he chuckled, pulling her in for a quick hug. "George where are you going?" He stated while staring over her head.

Arie turned her face against Fred's chest and watched as George climbed through the portrait hole. "I'm going to stop her from getting in trouble." He said simply as the portrait closed behind him.

"Is it bad that I don't care if she gets in trouble?" Arie asked half-heartedly.

"What if she got caught by Snape and he docked us fifty points?"

"Oh, good point," she said with a small smile. "Okay, I guess I care a little bit then."

Fred rolled his eyes, trying not to laugh and pulled her up the stairs towards his room. "Come on you, I'm taking you hostage for the night."

As they opened the door to Fred's dorm, Arie pretended to be shy and said in a breathy voice, "No, no sir. I am but a humble maiden. Do not ravish me so."

A strange look flitted across Fred's face. "Role playing? Really?" He took a possessive step forward. "Is that what you like?"

Arie realized how awkward her comment sounded. "I'm kidding," she lied. She pulled him forward towards his bed. "Come on, let's make out." She pulled him down on top of her onto the bed. She realized how much she enjoyed being able to take control of the situation now that she was allowed to do what she wanted with him. Fred seemed to be having the same thoughts and let her pull him onto the bed. Arie found Fred's hands running over places that elicited excited growls from deep within her.

Several minutes into their make-out session, when Arie began feeling intensely warm and light-headed, the dorm door opened loudly. Fred broke their heated kiss with a grunt and frowned through the draperies at whoever was interrupting them.

"Were you trying to get detention for the rest of your life?" George's voiced bellowed. "I can't believe you said that to Snape!"

"He needs to be a little more sympathetic," Becky replied in a raspy voice. "I was clearly upset, he didn't need to be so mean."

"You lost us sixty points! Sixty! Do you know that me and Fred combined couldn't lose that many points?"

"Why are you being so mean?" Her voice rose an octive.

"Because you're acting like a spoiled bitch," George said simply.

A loud snort made its way through Arie's nose and Fred slapped a hand over her mouth quickly, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.

Becky gasped. "Shit, someone's here."

"No there's not," Arie said in falsetto. Fred began cracking up and it all came undone. Fred and Arie howled with laughter for no apparent reason.

The bed-hangings yanked back forcefully and Becky's looming face glared at them. "You guys suck."

"Sorry, we couldn't help it," Fred said, eyes tearing up from laughter.

"We tried to stay quiet," Arie hiccupped, "but we just couldn't."

Becky rolled her eyes and muttered, "Stupid children."

"If it makes you feel better, I'm proud of you for losing us so many points," Arie said soberly.

Fred smiled and nodded in agreement. "What did you say to piss him off?"

"She told him that he looked like a sour lemon," George answered.

Becky crossed her arms defensively and frowned. "He caught me at a bad time. I've never been rude to a teacher before, my reputation is ruined forever."

Arie gawked at Becky. "Becky, please don't say that. That is the most brilliant thing I've ever heard. Even I haven't talked back to Snape, and you know me."

"Unfortunately, I do," she replied sourly.

Fred put up his hand to distract Becky's attention. "You know, I think you might have it in you to act like a prankster."

A horrified look settled on Becky's face. "What? I could never do that. What would the teacher say about me?"

"Who gives a rat's ass what the teachers say? Their opinion of you doesn't decide your grades," Arie rebuffed. "I think Fred's right. If you have it in you to call Snape a sour lemon, you have it in you to act like a prankster."

"You guys are completely mental. I'm a good student."

Arie rolled her eyes lazily. "Yeah, and you're boring as hell, Becky."

"She's kind of right," George agreed.

Becky's face changed colors several times, finally settling on a light shade of pink. "I'm boring?" All three of them nodded. "Is that why so many people dislike me?" She asked breathily, sitting down on the edge of Lee's bed.

Arie, feeling overly confident in her ability to be truthful with Becky, began replying honestly. "Well actually it's because you're a bit-".

Fred pulled her flush against his body and capped her mouth with his hand then leaned down and kissed her ear. "Don't listen to her."

"It's because you're too strong with your opinions," George said lightly.

"I'm a bitch." The words sounded foreign on Becky's tongue.

Both Fred and George gave Arie exasperated looks. "She said it! Not me!"

"I have been a bitch, you're right," she contemplated what she had done to make people dislike her. "I'm going to go to bed. Thanks for coming to get me, George."

"Please think about what we said," George said earnestly as she walked towards the door.

She gave a placid smile and shook her head. "I don't think so. I'm not Arie."

George, crestfallen, watched her open the door and leave. "Why the hell are you standing there?" Arie asked angrily. "Go get her!"

"But, she just said she didn't want to be part of our group."

"So? That doesn't mean she won't date you. Honestly, I think I'd have to kill myself if she joined our group. She really is a b-"

Fred chuckled and covered her mouth again. "Alright, Arie. Stop talking." He looked over at his brother and grinned. "I think you should go try one more time."

"Alright, but if she says no, I'm hexing your girlfriend." Mouth still covered, Arie gave him a thumbs up.

Fred didn't uncover Arie's mouth until the door shut behind George. "Alright, what's your bet?"

"I think she says no, but tomorrow she'll come up to him and tell him that she was wrong."

"I'll take that bet. I think she says yes tonight," Fred said cockily.

"She's not that easy."

Grinning smugly, Fred replied, "You were."

Sighing as though it were plainly obvious, Arie shook her head and crossed her arms. "That's because I'm not an idiot."

They both grinned at the silliness of her remark. Even still, Fred laughed and said stoically, "Thank Merlin for that." And then he kissed her.

* * *

Thanks for your patience. Real life was screaming at me :P. Such a stressful week! Three tests, two projects, two papers... My brain almost exploded, but yay for passing tests!

Also, if any of you come across a poorly worded sentence in my story, please alert me. I write fanfiction stories with less structure than papers I turn into teachers. I have so much fun with the dialogue that I sometimes forget about the meaty parts..

I've had a couple of requests for links to pictures of people that I think look like Becky and Arie. Come on, what fun is that? :D You're welcome to comment on the story or PM me your thoughts on what they look like. Any links you send me will be posted onto my page (anonymously of course, if you'd like).


End file.
